South Korea's economy has performed relatively well in 2015 despite domestic and overseas challenges, the country's top economic policymaker said Monday.
In a meeting with senior finance ministry officials in Sejong City, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said the timely injection of an 11.5 trillion won (US$9.94 billion) extra budget and other stimulus measures have kept alive the country's growth momentum.
"Despite a slew of difficult conditions at home and abroad, the economy has put up a relatively good show this year," said Choi, who doubles as deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs.
Asia's fourth-largest economy was hit hard by the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak that claimed 37 lives and crippled private spending in the second quarter, while the slowdown of growth in China, its No. 1 overseas market, seriously affected exports.
"If exports had grown as forecast, the country's growth could have reached the high 3 percent range this year," the finance minister said.
The finance ministry said it expects South Korea's economic growth to hit 3.1 percent this year, down from 3.3 percent tallied for 2014. This growth target, however, is higher than the upper 2 percent growth range being predicted by other think tanks.
For 2016, Choi said things can get better, although there are uncertainties that can restrict growth.
Choi urged the National Assembly to approve the South Korea-China free trade agreement by Nov. 26 to help expand overseas shipments and pass next year's budget on Dec. 2.
He also said that labor reform and measures aimed at vitalizing the economy should be passed by Dec. 9, the last day of the current regular session of parliament. (Yonhap)
