S. Korean central bank revises down 2024 growth outlook to 2.4 pct

SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) — South Korea’s central bank on Thursday revised down its economic growth outlook for 2024 by 0.1 percentage points, lowering its headline inflation forecast by the same margin.
Real gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for inflation, was expected to expand 2.4 percent in 2024, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said after freezing its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.50 percent.
It was down from an increase of 2.5 percent estimated three months earlier.
The downward revision was attributable to a reduction of 0.2 percent in the second quarter’s real GDP compared to the previous quarter.
The BOK forecast was lower than the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s outlook of 2.6 percent and the International Monetary Fund’s estimate of 2.5 percent.
The central bank maintained next year’s economic growth estimate at 2.1 percent.
The consumer price inflation outlook for 2024 was cut by 0.1 percentage points to 2.5 percent, while the 2025 inflation forecast was left unchanged at 2.1 percent. ■