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The IMF forecasts on April 17 that Korea’s GDP growth rate for 2018 and 2019 will be 3.0 and 2.9 percent, respectively. (Korea.net DB)

By Park Gil-ja and Hahm Hee-eun

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that the Korean economy will grow by 3 percent this year and by 2.9 percent next year.

The IMF released its World Economic Outlook Report on April 17 in which it predicts Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecasts for this year and next. This corresponds with what the IMF and the Korean government have predicted in an earlier report in February.

Those figures are slightly lower than last year’s growth rate of 3.2 percent, but they’re still consistent with the Korean government’s own expectations. The IMF has taken into account the fact that Korea’s export performance is good and that the government is expanding its money-making policies.

Other international organizations, such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), have also projected Korea’s growth rate to be 3.0 percent this year. If this trend continues, the Korean government’s goal to reach 3 percent economic growth this year is expected to be accomplished without any difficulty.

The IMF publishes two annual world economic reports per year, in April and October. They predict economic growth rates for each country. The IMF kept its prediction for overall global economic growth rate at 3.9 percent both this year and next year, which was announced in a revised economic forecast report in January.

krun@korea.kr