S. Korea may be 4th-biggest stakeholder in AIIB: minister

South Korea is expected to hold the fourth-largest stake in the new China-led regional infrastructure development bank in light of Seoul's economic power, the top economic policymaker said Monday.

In late March, South Korea announced its decision to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as one of its founding members in a bid to further Seoul's own economic interests in the region.

Almost all Asian countries, except for Japan, have applied for membership, along with major European countries, with the total number of states that have joined currently standing at 57.

In a meeting with reporters, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said that stakes in the AIIB will be divided among the members, based on their gross domestic product and purchasing power parity.

"China and India are huge, so they will take the most shares, with other members vying for the top five positions," he said. "If Russia is tapped as the third-largest stake, South Korea will likely rank fourth."

Choi said that he had talked with the finance ministers of China, the United States and Australia twice before opting to join the multilateral development bank.

On the overall state of the economy, Choi said that after a 0.8 percent gain in the first quarter, South Korea's GDP will be able to pull off at least 1 percent growth in the April-June period.

"The trend in the second quarter is very different from late last year," the official stressed, adding that there is a good chance that growth may be roughly on par with 2014. Last year, the country grew 3.3 percent.

He said that the government plans to formulate its economic policy goal for the rest of 2015 after looking at all the variables, adding that a final decision on growth will be reached in June.

In a meeting with senior ministry officials earlier Monday, Choi said that the economy is on the mend for the most part, but it is not on the path to full recovery.

He said industrial output, retail and wholesale figures, and investment data are all fluctuating from month to month.

Alarm bells have also been raised in regards to trade, which has backtracked this year compared to 2013.

"Overall, there is a degree of uncertainty and volatility confronting the country," the finance minister said. "It is difficult to believe that the pace of economic recovery has firmly taken hold."

He said the government needs to keep close tabs on both domestic and external developments as well as risks, and take all possible measures to boost the recovery effort.

Choi's remarks come as Asia's fourth-largest economy posted minus 0.6 percent growth in industrial output in March, while its exports, a key growth engine, contracted 8.1 percent on-year in April.

Choi, who doubles as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, said that government officials must do all they can to help solidify the gains made so far, and try to accelerate growth by coming up with new ideas that can best serve the country down the road. (Yonhap)