The IMF had earlier forecast in its World Economic Outlook report in October that South Korea’s gross domestic product would grow 4 percent. (image: Korea Bizwire / Kobiz Media)
WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — The International Monetary Fund predicted Friday that South Korea’s economy would expand 3.7 percent this year, down 0.3 percentage point from its earlier forecast.
The forecast was included in the agency’s “Global Prospects and Policy Challenges” report submitted to a meeting of finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the Group of 20 major economies set to open in Istanbul on Friday for a two-day run.
The IMF had earlier forecast in its World Economic Outlook report in October that South Korea’s gross domestic product would grow 4 percent. The lending agency did not provide any reason for lowering the growth estimate.
The latest forecast is 0.3 percentage point higher than the growth estimate South Korea’s central Bank of Korea made last month, but it’s 0.1 percentage point lower than the forecast by Seoul’s finance ministry.
The IMF also forecast Asia’s fourth-largest economy would expand 3.9 percent next year.
(Yonhap)
