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Key words and expressions * pump ~를 불어넣다, 사기가 치솟다 (ex. We’re really pumped (up) for the game.) 여기서는 ‘부양하다’의 의미 * implement 실행하다 * potential 가능한, 잠재적인 * artificial measures 인위적인 부양책을 의미. artificial은 ‘인위적인’ * tackle 다루다(deal with) * call 요구 * consistent stance 일관된 입장, consistent은 ‘일관된’, stance는 ‘태도’, ‘입장’(position) * prop up 부양하다(pump up, boost) * estimate 추정하다 * hint 암시하다 * stemming from ~로 인한 * froze freeze의 과거형. 여기서는 ‘동결하다’의 의미 |
July 14, 2006 ㅡ Korea has no plans to implement policies aimed at boosting the economy, which is on a solid recovery track, the country’s vice finance minister said yesterday.
"The economy is expected to grow at a potential rate of 5 percent this year," Chin Dong-soo said in a weekly briefing. "If we introduce artificial measures to further boost economic expansion, we would have to tackle side effects later."
Responding to calls from the ruling Uri Party that the government introduce measures to help maintain the economic recovery in the second half, Mr. Chin said, "The government’s consistent stance has been that we do not use artificial measures to prop up the economy." The vice finance minister said private spending and overseas demand remain healthy, and forecast that the economy would grow 1 percent in each of the third and fourth quarters. The economy expanded 1.2 percent in the first quarter from the previous quarter.
The economy is estimated to have grown 5.8 percent in the first half from a year earlier, and is expected to expand around 5 percent this year.
The Bank of Korea, the country’s central bank, hinted at a rate hike in the coming months, citing increased inflationary pressure stemming from rising oil prices and the economic recovery. For July, the bank froze its key rate at 4.25 percent after raising it by 25 base points last month. Consumer prices rose 2.6 percent on-year in June, the biggest increase since January, and the central bank chief, Lee Seong-tae, forecast that the inflation rate would be near 3 percent later this year.