S.Korea's state-run think tank lowers 2019 growth outlook from 2.6 pct to 2.4 pct

Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-22 17:08:54|Editor: zh
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SEOUL, May 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's state-run economic think tank on Wednesday cut its 2019 growth outlook for the economy from 2.4 percent from 2.6 percent six months earlier.

The 0.2 percentage-point downward revision was attributed to the slowdown both in export and domestic demand, the Korea Development Institute (KDI) said in a statement.

The KDI forecast was lower than the government's outlook of 2.6-2.7 percent, and the Bank of Korea (BOK)'s estimate of 2.5 percent.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) lowered its growth forecast for the economy by 0.2 percentage points to 2.4 percent Tuesday.

According to the KDI, the downgraded outlook came as export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, kept sliding for five straight months through April.

The export fall was caused mainly by the downturn in business cycle of the global semiconductor industry and the global economic slowdown.

The KDI forecast that South Korea's export would reduce 6 percent this year, a sharp downgrade from a 4.6 percent expansion estimated six months earlier.

Outlook for this year's current account surplus was cut to 55.9 billion U.S. dollars from 58.2 billion dollars estimated six months ago.

Influenced by the export fall, facility investment was forecast to decline 4.8 percent in 2019 compared with the prior year.

Private consumption, another growth engine of the economy, was expected to grow 2.2 percent this year. Consumer price was predicted to rise 0.7 percent in the year.

The employment outlook was set at a year-over-year increase of about 200,000 this year, sharply up from a growth of some 100,000 estimated six months earlier.

The upgraded forecast was attributed to the government's job-creating projects, especially for the elderly people.

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