Top Lee Aide Forecasts 3rd Quarter Recovery
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Sakong Il, the chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), predicted an upturn for the country's ailing economy during the third-quarter of the year, stopping short of elaborating.
Sakong, a key economic advisor to President Lee Myung-bak, also called for lawmakers to be swift in green-lighting government plans for a 28.9 trillion won ($21.5 billion) supplementary budget, which he claims will be a vital part of efforts to inject new life into the business sector.
``Our economy will begin to rebound around the third quarter, but the shift won't be dramatic enough for businesses to feel the change instantly,'' Sakong said in a speech at a Seoul hotel Friday.
``The National Assembly approving the extra budget quickly will be vital for the early recovery of the economy and enable the government's financial policies to work properly,'' he said.
Korea will rebound from the current slump more quickly than most countries, Sakong said, as the global economy as a whole could continue its slide until the first-half of next year.
``G20 countries, which account for 85 percent of the world's economy, got together last November and earlier this year to combine their efforts for a recovery, certainly a positive development,'' he said.
``Optimism and pessimism have coexisted since the G20 summit earlier this year, but I think the world economy will take more time to heal, which won't happen until the earlier half of next year.''
Sakong also said South Korean companies should consider more ways to diversify their export markets and target countries such as Japan and China, where governments are spending aggressively to revive their economies.