Korean economy grows 0.9% in Q1: BOK

The South Korean economy grew 0.9 percent in the first quarter from three months earlier on brisk shipments of tech and petrochemical products, central bank data showed Thursday.

Korea’s gross domestic product, unchanged from an earlier estimate released in April, matched the 0.9 percent on-quarter gain in the fourth quarter, according to data from the Bank of Korea.

From a year earlier, Asia’s fourth-largest economy grew 3.9 percent in the first three months of the year, picking up from a 3.7 percent growth in the fourth quarter.

The data comes after the central bank raised its economic growth forecast for the year to 4 percent in April from an earlier 3.8 percent. It also raised its 2015 growth outlook to 4.2 percent from 4 percent.

The Bank of Korea had cited calculation methodology for the revisions, adding that the country’s recovery pace remains intact.

Exports, which account for about 50 percent of the economy, expanded 1.5 percent in the first quarter after rising 1.4 percent three months ago.

Private spending inched up 0.2 percent on-quarter, slowing from a 0.6 percent growth in the previous quarter. Facility investment fell 1.9 percent, marking the first on-quarter contraction since the fourth quarter of 2012 due to slowing investment on machinery.

Construction investment jumped 5.1 percent last quarter, turning around from a 5.2 percent on-quarter fall in the fourth quarter as property construction picked up, according to the data.

Meanwhile, the data showed that Korea’s gross national income rose 0.5 percent on-quarter in the cited period, slowing from a 1 percent growth in the fourth quarter.

The first-quarter figure marks the lowest level since the January-March period in 2013, when the country’s GNI growth also logged 0.5 percent.

Korea’s gross savings rate came in at 35.1 percent, growing 0.7 percent from the previous quarter, according to the data.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s foreign exchange reserves soared to a fresh high in May, extending its record-breaking streak to the 11th month.

The country’s foreign reserves reached $360.91 billion as of the end of May, rising $5.07 billion from the previous month, according to the data by the Bank of Korea. (Yonhap)