SEOUL, Feb 9 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s economy is expected to grow 1.8 percent in 2023, higher than forecasts by the country’s finance ministry and central bank, a state-run think tank said today.
The Korea Development Institute (KDI), set this year’s growth outlook at 1.8 percent, unchanged from the estimate unveiled by the KDI three months earlier.
It was higher than the growth outlooks of 1.6 percent from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, 1.7 percent from the Bank of Korea (BOK) and 1.7 percent from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The KDI projected the South Korean economy to expand 1.1 percent in the first half of this year, before rebounding 2.4 percent in the second half.
The export growth forecast for 2023 was revised up to 1.8 percent from 1.6 percent, estimated three months ago, while the outlook for private consumption was lowered from 3.1 percent to 2.8 percent.
This year’s outlook for consumer price inflation was raised by 0.3 percentage points, to 3.5 percent, identical to the forecast from the finance ministry.
The upward revision was attributed to the hike in public utility charges, despite an expected fall of price in global crude oil.– NNN-YONHAP
