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Production, consumption, and investment, the three pillars of the economy, took a step backwards at once last month.

This is a signal that the economy is getting worse, and raising interest rates to catch inflation at this time can further atrophy the economy, which is a growing concern.



Reporter Jo Ki-ho reports.



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Pharmacies are struggling like a fortress.



It is good that the number of corona patients has decreased, because sales of related drugs prepared in case of emergency have drastically decreased.



[Lee Jae-hong/Pharmacist: When (Corona) is in full swing, about 8 out of 10 people want to get emergency medicine.

Now, it can be said that the number has decreased to about 2 out of 10.]



As distance is lifted and pharmaceutical sales are down, household ingredients are also less sold, so consumption last month decreased 0.2% from March.



Although the consumption of personal services such as restaurants, bars and beauty salons, and sports and leisure sectors increased by around 10%, it did not increase overall consumption.



Production fell 0.7% from March, mainly in semiconductors and foodstuffs, and investment also lagged 7.5% as the number of facilities entering factories decreased.



It is the first time in 26 months since February 2020 that production, consumption and investment fell at the same time.



It is interpreted that the global supply chain shakes and the impact of the soaring price of atomic ash has been transmitted as it is.



The situation shows no sign of improving in the future.



This is because the leading economic index, which predicts the future economy by combining job search and construction orders, has fallen for 10 consecutive months.



In such a situation, if interest rates are raised quickly to catch inflation, the economy may get worse.



[Ko Ja-hyun / Head of KDI Industry and Market Policy Research: You should also look at the economic outlook, but when interest rates rise, there is a great burden on companies, so this should also be considered as a policy decision variable.]



Exquisite tightrope between prices and the economy

The homework to be done is given to the Bank of Korea and the government.



(Video coverage: Kim Min-cheol, video editing: Park Chun-bae, VJ: Park Hyeon-woo)