factories in surrounding Gyeonggi Province, factories in the Seoul area produced 46 percent of all manufacturing that year. Factories in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province employed 48 percent of the nation's 2.1 million factory workers. Increased income disparity between the industrial and agricultural sectors became a problem by the 1970s despite government efforts to raise farm income and improve rural areas In the early 1980s, in order to control inflation, a conservative monetary policy and tight fiscal measures were adopted. Growth of the money supply was reduced from the 30 percent level of the 1970s to 15 percent. During this time, Seoul froze its budget for a short while. Government intervention in the economy was greatly reduced and policies on imports and foreign investment were liberalized to promote competition. To reduce the imbalance between rural and urban sectors, Seoul expanded investments in public projects, such as roads and communications facilities, while further promoting farm mechanization. The measures implemented early in the decade, coupled with significant improvements in the world economy, helped the South Korea regain its lost momentum. South Korea achieved an average of 9.2 percent real growth between 1982 and 1987 and 12.5 percent between 1986 and 1988. The double-digit inflation of the 1970s was brought under control. Wholesale price inflation averaged 2.1 percent per year from 1980 through 1988; consumer prices increased by an average of 4.7 percent annually. Seoul achieved its first significant surplus in its balance of payments in 1986 and recorded a US$7.7 billion and a US$11.4 billion surplus in 1987 and 1988 respectively. This development permitted South Korea to begin reducing its level of foreign debt. The trade surplus for 1989, however, was only US$4.6 billion, and a small negative balance was projected for 1990. 1990s and the Asian Financial Crisis For the first half of the 1990s, the South Korean economy continued a stable and strong growth in both private consumption and GDP. During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, after several other Asian currencies were attacked by speculators, the Korean won started to depreciate in October 1997. The problem was exacerbated due to non-performing loans at many of Korea's merchant banks. By December 1997, the IMF had approved a US$21 billion loan, that would be part of a US$58.4 billion bailout plan. By January 1998, the government had shut down a third of Korea's merchant banks. Throughout 1998, Korea's economy would continue to shrink