South Korea will focus on building new growth strategies in drawing up its economy management plan for next year that could help the country tide over the fast-changing economic environment at home and aboard, the top economic policymaker said Friday. (Image : bykst / Pixabay)
SEOUL, Nov. 20 (Korea Bizwire) - South Korea will focus on building new growth strategies in drawing up its economy management plan for next year that could help the country tide over the fast-changing economic environment at home and aboard, the top economic policymaker said Friday.
In a meeting with heads of major economic research institutes in Seoul, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan voiced concerns that the country needs to stay vigilant amid mounting uncertainty which has intensified, especially in the wake of the recent attacks in Paris.
“Along with the so-called G2 risk from the U.S.’s move to normalize its currency policy and the slowing growth in China, instability in resources-rich emerging markets amid falling prices and the recent terror (in Paris) have been ramping up uncertainty,” Choi said.
On the domestic front, he worried that a continued low global growth following the financial crisis is hurting the shipbuilding, steel and shipping sectors by causing oversupply in the market.
Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan voiced concerns that the country needs to stay vigilant amid mounting uncertainty which has intensified, especially in the wake of the recent attacks in Paris. (Image : Yonhap)
“In response to the changes in the global economic structure, the government will focus its capacity on building new growth strategies, while pushing to stimulate the economy and step up restructuring efforts,” he said.
His remarks came as the finance ministry is working on drawing up its 2016 economy management plan that will include its growth projections and other broad policy directions.
Citing the third-quarter growth rate of 1.2 percent compared with three months earlier, Choi said that the country will be able to achieve economic growth in the 3-percent range next year should the current momentum continue.
The finance ministry has predicted Asia’s fourth-largest economy to grow 3.3 percent on-year in 2016, with the Bank of Korea forecasting a growth rate of 3.2 percent.
But most private think tanks are more pessimistic, projecting South Korea’s economic growth rate will fall below 3 percent next year due to still weak domestic demand and slumping exports.’
(Yonhap)
