SEOUL South Korea will provide up to 181 trillion won ($137 billion) of cheap loans to exporters until the end of this year and waive visa processing fees for Chinese tourists to spur exports and tourism, its finance ministry said on Monday.
The government aims to increase the number of Chinese tourists to 1.5 million a month from the current one million by expediting waiving visa fees and coordinating tourist events with retailers.
"In September, the trade balance is likely to remain in surplus while the declines in exports will further ease, and exports are likely to swing to growth during the fourth quarter," finance minister Choo Kyung-ho told policymakers at a meeting on Monday.
Analysts at ING forecast we third-quarter economic growth will decelerate to 0.2% quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted from 0.6% in the second quarter, with domestic demand slowing further.
($1 = 1,317.5500 won)
(Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Kim Coghill)
