President Kim Do-jin of Industrial Bank of Korea / President Hur Yin of Kookmin Bank

President Cho Song-shik of Mirae Asset Life Insurance Co. / Chairman Kim Yong-beom of Meritz Fire Reinsurance Co.

President Chung Won-jae of Woori Card. / Former Chairman Shin Je-yun of Financial Services Commission

President Kim Do-jin of the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) clinched the 2018 Grand Financial Man Award as one of the seven financial leaders who made outstanding contributions to the financial industry this year. Former chairman Shin Je-yoon of the Financial Services Commission won the Meritorious Contribution Award.

The Korea Financial Grand Award Deliberation Committee led by Chairman Park Sang-yong announced the list of 2018 financial award winners on Dec. 9. Explaining why the committee picked Kim for the award, Chairman Park said the IBK president won the coveted award for his leadership that managed the bank to make continuous profit this year while providing financial support to SMEs and socially dedicated financial firms.

The Maeil Business Newspaper and MBN co-hosted the committee the event with the support of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and associations of the financial sectors. the awards are to be presented on Dec. 20 during the Year-end Party for the financial players at Westin-Chosun Hotel in downtown Seoul.

The Grand Award for Bank went to President Hur Yin of KB Kookmin Bank, while the Grand Award for Life Insurance went to President Cho Song-shik of Mirae Asset Life Insurance Co. and the Grand Award for Non-Life Insurance to Vice Chairman Kim Yong-beom of Merits Fire Reinsurance Co.

President Chung  Won-jae of Woori Card was named as the recipient of the Credit Finance Grand Award, while Chairman Kim Sang-ko of Moa Savings Bank won the Savings Bank Grand Award, which was awarded for the first time this year.

Chairman Park recalled that the committee had a hard time picking the award winners this year as there were so many candidates for the honors, with each of them making such an outstanding contribution to the financial industry.
“We appreciated their hard work that made their financial institutions playing a great part to boost the growth of the economy and well-being of society,” he said.

Economic growth is projected to remain close to 3% through 2020, as fiscal stimulus offsets sluggish employment growth, which reflects double-digit hikes in the minimum wage in 2018-19 and restructuring in the manufacturing sector.

Measures to stabilize the housing market have led to a decline in construction orders for residential property.
Inflation is expected to edge up from 1½ per cent toward the 2% target, while the current account surplus will remain above 5% of GDP. Hikes in the minimum wage should be moderated to avoid negative effects on employment.

The “income-led growth” strategy, driven by minimum wage increases and higher public employment and social spending, needs to be supported by reforms to narrow productivity gaps between manufacturing and services, and between large and small firms. Short-term fiscal stimulus should be accompanied by a long-term framework to cope with population ageing, which will be the fastest in the OECD. With inflation below target, the withdrawal of monetary accommodation should be gradual.

Output growth is projected to remain close to 3%, despite sluggish employment growth in 2019, partly as a result of a hike in the minimum wage by a further 10.9%.

Further large increases, as part of the government’s commitment to a sharp increase in the minimum wage, would damp employment and output growth. The improved relationship with North Korea is a landmark event that may also have positive economic implications.