Overseas sales by the world's seventh-largest exporter shot up 26.6 percent in April from a year before led by petrochemical products and vessels, government data showed on Sunday, outpacing a 21.7 percent forecast in a Reuters poll.
Imports rose less, by 23.7 percent from a year before, the Knowledge Economy Ministry data showed, below a 25.7 percent annual gain seen in the poll, and hit by a drop in imports of industrial equipment on weak investment by companies.
As depressed domestic demand posed a risk to the economy, the government on Sunday unveiled a fresh set of measures aimed at relieving builders of financial troubles and boosting home transactions in a fourth such move this year.
"If the slump in the construction industry and builders persisted through the next year, it will have a seriously negative impact on the national economy overall," two government ministries and a financial regulatory agency said in a joint statement.
They said the government would help home builders get much of their maturing loans rolled over and secure additional capital to stay alive while offering tax advantages to those companies and funds purchasing unsold new homes.
Depressed domestic demand despite an exports-led economic recovery combined with high inflation has raised public discontent over the policy stance of President Lee Myung-bak, a former CEO, whose party suffered a defeat in a by-election last month.
Central bank data showed last week the economy grew at its fastest pace in three quarters in the January-March period but the construction sector suffered its worst quarterly decline in 13 years.
Still, the robust exports data bodes well for the economy that the central bank expects to grow 4.5 percent this year, below a 6.2 percent rise last year but above the performance seen before the 2007-2008 global crisis.
Exports totalled a record $49.77 billion in April while imports amounted to $43.95 billion, producing a trade surplus of $5.82 billion. All figures are provisional and will be revised by the middle of May.
Average exports value per working day -- a useful guide on monthly changes in the absence of seasonally adjusted data -- also rose to a record $2.12 billion in April from a revised $2.00 billion in March. (Reuters)
