Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki expressed concerns that the latest wave of COVID-19 infections will begin to factor into major economic indices to be published this month. 

Hong presided over an emergency economic meeting at the government complex in Seoul on Thursday and said real economy indicators continue to show recovery, albeit on a limited scale. 

He pointed to the 46-point-four-percent growth in exports for the first ten days of the month from a year earlier, an on-year increase of 542-thousand jobs in July and on-year growth in credit card expenditure by seven-point-nine percent in July. 

However, the minister said it is inevitable to see the impact of the latest surge in cases manifested from August and urged officials to work hard to minimize the fallout and maintain the recovery trend. 

He reiterated the government’s promise to dole out 90 percent of the latest COVID-19 cash payouts to the general public and small businesses by the end of next month and also pledged efforts to provide six trillion won in emergency loans to small businesses owners within this month.