IMF FORECAST OF S. KOREA’S ECONOMY

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The International Monetary Fund projects the South Korean economy to grow by more than 3% this year. It also forecast over 5% growth for the global economy, expecting the fallout from COVID-19 to gradually subside.

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The IMF predicts 3.1% growth for South Korea this year. It’s up 0.2 percentage points from its October forecast. A finance ministry official said the IMF's forecast is believed to reflect a recovery trend in exports and Korea's COVID-19 vaccine plans. The IMF reported minus 1.1% growth for Korea last year which is similar to the Bank of Korea’s figure of minus one percent. It’s the highest growth figure among 11 advanced economies. Among advanced nations, South Korea also tops the growth forecast of last and this year combined, at 2%. The IMF also raised the global growth outlook for 2021 to 5.5%. It predicted 5.2% last October. Developed nations are expected to grow 4.3% and developing nations 6.3%. The U.S. is forecast to grow 5.1% this year, the Eurozone 4.2, Japan 3.1 and China 8.1%. The IMF said the growth momentum will take a hit early this year due to Covid-19 still spreading and lockdowns, but noted that conditions will get better from the second quarter thanks to vaccine distribution. It also urged governments to boost global cooperation to increase access to vaccines and exert efforts to ease inequality such as through vocational training for people who lost their jobs during the pandemic.