South Korea Sees Growth Missing Government’s 2.4% Target: Yonhap

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South Korea’s economic growth may miss the government’s target of 2.4% to 2.5% this year, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing the finance minister.

Growth is more likely to meet the projections of International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, the news agency cited Hong Nam-ki as saying in Washington, where the Group of 20 nations’ finance ministers and central bank governors met.

IMF and OECD forecast Asia’s fourth-largest economy will expand at 2% and 2.1%, respectively.

The finance ministry lowered its growth forecast for the year to 2.4% to 2.5% in July, reflecting the vulnerability of the economy to external forces, including the protracted U.S.-China trade war. The revision preceded the escalation in trade tensions between South Korea and Japan.

Hong said he expects economic growth next year to be slightly above the 2.2% and 2.3% projected by IMF and OECD, respectively, Yonhap reported. He also expressed hopes that the dispute with Japan could be resolved before year-end, according to the news agency.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kanga Kong in Seoul at kkong50@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Jasmine Ng, Malcolm Scott

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