S.Korea's national income reduce first in 4.5 years on low growth

South Korea's national income reduced first in four and a half years, boosting worries that the economy may enter into the prolonged trend of low growth, central bank data showed Thursday.

Real gross national income (GNI), which gauges income by South Koreans at home and abroad, slid 0.1 percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It was the first decline in four and a half years since the fourth quarter of 2010 when the national income shrank 1.9 percent.

Concerns deepened about the protracted low growth trend as national income reduced while real gross domestic product (GDP) kept the zero-percent increase for five straight quarters. The real GDP inched up 0.3 percent in the second quarter from three months earlier.

Dry weather and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak dampened the economic growth in the second quarter, helping drag down the national income growth.

Dividend income from investment in foreign companies fell sharply in the second quarter compared with the first quarter when many of investors registered dividend income. In the first quarter, the real GNI surged 4.2 percent.

Uncertainties facing the South Korean economy remained at home and abroad, including the expected rate hike in the United States, economic slowdown in China, massive household debts, sluggish exports and weak domestic demand.

The South Korean government unveiled a fiscal stimulus package, including extra budget, for the second half to reinvigorate the economy. The BOK cut its policy rate to an all-time low of 1.5 percent. Endi