\nSouth Korea’s economy grew at the fastest pace in over two years in the first quarter of the year on the back of a continued recovery in exports and a rise in construction investment, central bank data showed Thursday.<\/p>\n
The country’s real gross domestic product — a key measure of economic growth — increased at a higher-than-expected rate of 1.3 percent on-quarter in the January-March period, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).<\/p>\n
The first-quarter expansion beat the market estimate of 0.6 percent and the 0.6 percent on-quarter expansion in the September-December period.<\/p>\n
The reading marks the highest since the fourth quarter in 2021, when the economy expanded 1.4 percent.<\/p>\n
On a yearly basis, South Korea’s economy advanced 3.4 percent in the first quarter, higher than the 2.2 percent growth for the last quarter of 2023.<\/p>\n
Private spending logged a 0.8 percent rise in the January-March period, compared with a 0.2 percent advance the previous quarter.<\/p>\n
The country’s exports climbed 0.9 per
\ncent in the first quarter, slowing from the previous quarter’s 3.5 percent gain, while imports declined 0.7 percent from a 1.4 percent increase the previous quarter.<\/p>\n
Government spending gained 0.7 percent, and construction investment went up 2.7 percent in the first quarter, a shift from the previous quarter’s 4.5 percent dip, according to the data.<\/p>\n
“The first-quarter expansion was higher than our estimates in February, but it is hard to say that domestic demand will enter a full-fledged recovery,” a BOK official said, adding that the central bank will unveil an adjusted economic growth estimate next month.<\/p>\n
The better-than-expected growth came as the central bank is delaying its easing policy amid high inflation.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, the central bank held its key interest rate steady at 3.5 percent for the 10th straight time as it weighs a slower-than-expected moderation in inflation.<\/p>\n
The rate freezes came after the BOK delivered seven consecutive rate hikes from April 2022 to January.<\/p>\n
South Korea’s econ
\nomic growth slowed to the lowest in three years last year due to a slump in exports amid tightening monetary policies around the globe.<\/p>\n
The economy expanded 1.4 percent last year, slowing from a 2.6 percent advance in 2022 and 4.3 percent growth in 2021.<\/p>\n
The 2023 expansion marks the lowest since a 0.7 percent contraction in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n
For the year, the bank expects the economy to rebound slightly, at around 2 percent.<\/p>\n
Source: Yonhap News Agency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South Korea’s economy grew at the fastest pace in over two years in the first quarter of the year on the back of a continued recovery in exports and a rise in construction investment, central bank data showed Thursday.<\/p>\n
The country’s real gross domest…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n