File picture on Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho chairing economic meeting[Photo by Yoo Dae-gil = dbeorlf123@]
South Korea's industrial output rebounded in February, ending a three-month losing streak, but officials cautioned Thursday that there are no signs of better performance afterwards.
Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries increased 2.4 percent from a year ago, according to data from Statistics Korea. Output rose 3.3 percent on-month.
The semiconductor sector rose 33.7 percent last month from a year earlier, helped by rising demand for mobile memory chips -- a one-off factor, the agency said.
But production of communications equipment and electronics components fell 21.4 percent and 12.2 percent respectively.
Production in the service sector rose 3.9 percent on-year while domestic consumption saw a 3.1 percent increase.
Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol has said the country’s economy is recovering at a slower pace than earlier thought and may miss its growth forecast of three per cent for this year, citing weak exports and slowing consumption.
Lee's comment came after Finance minister Yoo Il-ho said the economy has lost steam with production and consumption declining while exports show no sign of improving.
The central bank again kept interest rates on hold this month at a record low 1.5 percent, but analysts say it is likely to cut rates in April or sometime later in the year.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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