South Korea's central bank cut its growth outlook for the economy on Tuesday, mainly blaming a slowdown in the global economy and trade.
In its quarterly revision to the growth outlook, the Bank of Korea said Asia's fourth-largest economy is expected to expand 2.8 percent this year, compared with a 3 percent growth forecast three months earlier.
The BOK joined a series of organizations that cut their own growth estimates for the local economy, including the International Monetary Fund, which has slashed its outlook for the South Korean economy to 2.7 percent from the previous 3.2 percent.
A local think tank, the Korea Institute of Finance, has also reduced its growth outlook to 2.6 percent from a 3 percent expansion predicted six months earlier.
BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol offered a poorer-than-anticipated performance of the local economy as a reason for the downward revision.
Still, the top central banker cited the slowing growth of the global economy as the main reason for the disappointing performance of his country.
"The reason we reduced our growth outlook for the year is because economic performances in the first quarter failed to meet our expectations. Also, recent reductions in the outlook on the growth of the global economy and global trade due to low global oil prices and various other reasons were also major reasons," he told a press briefing.
Exports, one of the two major pillars of growth for the local economy, have recently been a constant drag on the economy.
South Korea's exports have dropped ever single month since the beginning of last year.
"Exports of products will continue to show a moderate pace of recovery due to shrinking demand in China and other newly emerging markets, although the degree of the slump is expected to be eased somewhat toward the latter half of the year on a recovery of the global economy," the BOK said in a press release.
The central bank also slashed its outlook for consumer price inflation in 2016 to 1.2 percent from a 1.4 percent forecast three months earlier. (Yonhap)
