3.8 trillion won in policy funds poured into stock mart in first half

Some 800 billion won worth of pension and other state policy funds will be injected into the stock market this week.

The government held a meeting of economic ministers presided over by Deputy Prime Minister Jin Nyum Tuesday and unveiled these and other measures aimed at boosting the sluggish stock market.

To begin with, officials said, 800 billion won will be raised from the National Pension Fund and deposits at post offices and poured into the stock market by the end of this week. In addition, the government will have the National Pension Fund and three other policy funds invest 3 trillion won into the market, hopefully in the first half of this year and arrange a similar-sized investment pool made up of smaller funds to be put into the market by year-end. Combined, up to 6.8 trillion won in pension and policy funds are expected to be injected into the market this year.

The government also decided to exempt private funds from the 0.3 percent stock transaction tax as a measure to lure large-scale institutional investors into the stock market. Consequently, all taxes on policy funds` stock investments will be exempted, except for a 10 percent income tax on dividends.

In another measure to boost pension and other policy funds` stock investments, the government will introduce trust funds that guarantee original investment amounts, and hold explanatory sessions about them Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the government delayed plans Tuesday to announce how license fees collected from operators of the 3G telecom project known as international mobile telecommunication (IMT)-2000 would be spent. It plans to unveil the plan a week from now, after holding further consultations.

Yonhap