IMF keeps Korea's growth forecast for 2024 at 2.3 percent

The International Monetary Fund logo at its headquarters in Washington, U.S. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) retained its forecast for Korea's economic growth for this year at 2.3 percent while inching up the growth projection for the global economy by 0.1 percentage points to 3.2 percent.

In its latest April 2024 World Economic Outlook, published on Tuesday, the IMF predicted that Korea’s economy would grow 2.3 percent this year, in line with its previous prediction of 2.3 percent in January.

Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance projects the country's economy to grow by 2.2 percent this year and the Bank of Korea by 2.1 percent.

The IMF’s 2.3 percent figure for Korea “falls in the upper range among major economies,” explained the Finance Ministry in a release.

The monetary agency had previously adjusted Korea's forecast from 2.4 percent in April last year to 2.2 percent last October and then moved it back to 2.3 percent in January.

The IMF expected the advanced economies — which include 41 nations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Korea—to see an average annual growth of 1.7 percent this year. The projection was upped by 0.2 percentage points from three months prior.

The growth forecast for the United States was revised once again to 2.7 percent, up from 2.1 percent three months ago. The IMF lifted its projections for U.S. growth from 1.5 percent to 2.1 percent in January.

The forecast for emerging economies stood at 4.2 percent, up from January’s 4.1 percent. China’s growth projection remained unchanged at 4.6 percent after the figure was lifted in January from 4.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the IMF inched up its growth outlook for the global economy from the previous 3.1 percent announced in January to 3.2 percent, expecting a mild recovery on the back of strong private consumption and slowing inflation. However, it is still slower than the average of 3.8 percent from 2000 to 2019, as the burgeoning geopolitical risks and high base rates continue to weigh down the global economy.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]