Kim Ji-soo joined The Korea Times in 2006, and worked on such desks as culture and politics and is currently a member of the Editorial Board. Previous workplaces include The Korea Herald and the Korea JoongAng Daily.
BOK drops 2015 growth outlook to 2.7 percent
The Bank of Korea cut its growth outlook for 2015 and 2016, Thursday, citing sluggish domestic demand and falling exports.
The central bank's latest growth forecast for 2015 is 2.7 percent, down from 2.8 percent in July. This is the third consecutive cut since April when the initial 3.4 percent was lowered to 3.1 percent.
The figure for 2016 also was scaled down to 3.2 percent from 3.3 percent.
BOK Governor Lee Ju-Yeol attributed the cut to weak domestic consumption and declining exports in the third quarter.
Exports have been falling every month since the beginning of this year.
Amid such circumstances, the bank kept the key interest rate at 1.5 percent for October.