NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters says 72 percent of new COVID-19 patients are being reported in Seoul and its neighboring areas. But it also rang an alarm bell about a continued nationwide spread of the coronavirus, as new infections are increasing in other regions outside of the capital region. In order to reduce work-related infections, the headquarters also advised employers to ease crowdedness at workplaces via flexible work-hour plans and work-from-home programs.
Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki Thursday announced measures to help the nation's airline industry that has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The assistance includes extending deductions, exemptions or postponement of airport use fee payments until December this year and will total nearly 460 billion won.
The Bank of Korea kept the key interest rate unchanged at zero-point-five percent on Thursday. The rate freeze was widely expected since BOK Governor Lee Ju-yeol earlier told lawmakers that his bank plans to use an expansionary monetary policy to support the recovery of the economy. Meanwhile, the central bank slashed the nation's economic growth outlook for this year to minus 1.3 percent. It is down 1.1 percentage points from its previous prediction in May.