BOK slashes growth outlook of S. Korea's economy to 2.5 pct

SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's central bank on Friday revised down its growth outlook for Asia's fourth-largest economy to 2.5 percent from 2.8 percent, citing sluggish domestic demand.

BOK Governor Lee Ju-yeol announced the estimate in a news conference after the BOK Monetary Policy Board maintained its policy rate at an all-time low of 1.25 percent in January.

The BOK's gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimate for 2017 is 0.1 percentage point lower than the government's 2.6 percent released at the end of last year.

The BOK board said the pace of domestic economic growth has slowed somewhat, as the recovery in domestic demand has weakened.

For all of 2015, the country's economy grew 2.6 percent, lower than 3.3 percent growth in the previous year.

GDP, the broadest measure of an economy's performance, is the total value of goods and services produced within the economy in a given period.

entropy@yna.co.kr
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