[Yonhap News Photo]
South Korea's central bank revised up its growth outlook for Asia's fourth-largest economy this year to three percent, saying financial markets were stable despite heightened geopolitical risks.
Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol said this year's growth outlook was raised from an earlier estimate of 2.8 percent. The International Monetary Fund which has also raised South Korea's GDP growth outlook to three percent, citing the recovery in global trade and China's import demand.
"Exports seem likely to sustain their buoyancy, thanks largely to the global economic recovery, and domestic demand activities will also recover moderately due to the expansion in fiscal spending," the bank said in a statement.
An outflow of foreign capital from South Korea that began in August at the height of cross-border tensions caused by North Korea's nuclear and missile threats stopped in October, Lee said.
However, Lee admitted that a negative impact stemming from a diplomatic between Seoul and Bejing over the deployment of a US missile shield was bigger than anticipated. "Next year, the negative impact is expected to ease gradually."
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
