Sales at South Korea’s major department stores rose in January for an 11th month as the nation’s economic recovery strengthened.
Spending at the three biggest chains climbed 4.8 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in an emailed statement today. That compared with a 12.5 percent gain in December.
South Korea’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record-low 2 percent on 11 February to spur growth and employment. President Lee Myung Bak has said the economy may expand more than 5 percent in 2010, which would be the most in three years.