By Yoon Ja-young
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its forecast for Korea's economic growth for this year to 3.3 percent from 3.7 percent it projected in January.
In its World Economic Outlook released Tuesday, it said Korea's growth momentum somewhat weakened due to sluggish domestic consumption and corporate investment.
The fund also revised down the growth outlook for next year to 3.5 percent from 3.9 percent.
The Bank of Korea lowered its outlook to 3.1 percent last week from a previous estimate of 3.4 percent. The forecast of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance stands at 3.8 percent.
However, private research institutes doubt whether the figure will be attainable. Some economists expect the economy to grow below 3 percent.
BNP Paribas, for instance, expects the Korean economy to grow 2.7 percent this year, and Nomura Securities suggested 2.5 percent.
The central bank cut the key rate to historically low 1.75 percent, but some analysts expect there to be further cut due to the sluggish economy.
In the meantime, the IMF left its growth forecast for the world economy unchanged at 3.5 percent for this year, while raising the forecast for 2016 to 3.8 percent from 3.7 percent.
The IMF said that the developed economies are expected to grow compared with the last year, but pointed out that their growth potential will slow down due to aging of the population, sluggish investment and decrease in productivity.
In case of emerging economics, IMF expected slowdown of growth for oil exporters, China and Latin American countries.
The fund cited international oil price hike, geopolitical tension, financial market shock, and low inflation in developed economies as risk factors for the global economy.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its forecast for Korea's economic growth for this year to 3.3 percent from 3.7 percent it projected in January.
In its World Economic Outlook released Tuesday, it said Korea's growth momentum somewhat weakened due to sluggish domestic consumption and corporate investment.
The fund also revised down the growth outlook for next year to 3.5 percent from 3.9 percent.
The Bank of Korea lowered its outlook to 3.1 percent last week from a previous estimate of 3.4 percent. The forecast of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance stands at 3.8 percent.
However, private research institutes doubt whether the figure will be attainable. Some economists expect the economy to grow below 3 percent.
BNP Paribas, for instance, expects the Korean economy to grow 2.7 percent this year, and Nomura Securities suggested 2.5 percent.
The central bank cut the key rate to historically low 1.75 percent, but some analysts expect there to be further cut due to the sluggish economy.
In the meantime, the IMF left its growth forecast for the world economy unchanged at 3.5 percent for this year, while raising the forecast for 2016 to 3.8 percent from 3.7 percent.
The IMF said that the developed economies are expected to grow compared with the last year, but pointed out that their growth potential will slow down due to aging of the population, sluggish investment and decrease in productivity.
In case of emerging economics, IMF expected slowdown of growth for oil exporters, China and Latin American countries.
The fund cited international oil price hike, geopolitical tension, financial market shock, and low inflation in developed economies as risk factors for the global economy.
