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IMF turns down S. Korea's growth forecast for 2009

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-11-25 14:41

SEOUL -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has turned down its prediction for South Korea's economic growth rate in 2009 from 3.5 percent to 2.0 percent as the ongoing global financial crisis adversely affecting South Korea's domestic spending and exports, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (R) talks to California Governor Schwarzenegger in Los Angeles November 24, 2008. IMF turned down economic growth forecast for South Korea in the second half of this year, South Korea press reported on Tuesday. [Agencies]

It was the second time that the IMF turned down economic growth forecast for South Korea in the second half of this year. In July, the IMF had predicted the country's growth rate in 2009 at 4.3 percent.

In a latest prediction, the Korea Development Institute predicted the growth rate for next year at 3.3 percent, while the Samsung Economic Research Institute predicted at 3.6 percent.

In its Regional Economic Outlook (REO) for Asia and Pacific, the IMF maintained this year's growth forecast for South Korea at 4.1 percent.