Credit card spending growth in Korea picks up in June

By Kim Soo-yeon
SEOUL, July 6 (Yonhap) -- South Koreans' credit card spending rose at a
double-digit rate for the first time in eight months in June, an industry
association said Monday, pointing to a pick-up in domestic demand.

Spending via credit cards, excluding cash advance services, amounted to 27.1
trillion won (US$21.4 billion) last month, up 12.44 percent from a year earlier,
according to the Credit Finance Association.
The June figure accelerated from a 8.66 percent on-year advance in May and marked
the first double-digit growth since October when such spending expanded 15.23
percent.
The on-year growth of card spending has slowed since Lehman Brothers collapsed,
heavily denting the local economy.
"Sales of consumer goods such as cars increased amid recovering consumer
sentiment that prompted more people to use plastic," an official at the
association said.
According to the finance ministry, sales of consumer goods jumped 5.1 percent in
May from a month earlier -- thanks largely to a spike in automobiles sales driven
by tax benefits -- and were expected to continue to grow in June.
But experts say a rise in card spending does not necessarily translate into a
full-blown recovery.
In the first half, card spending expanded 7.5 percent from the previous year,
compared with a 18.08 percent increase in the first six months of last year, the
association added.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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