SEOUL, May 28 (Xinhua) — South Korea’s central bank on Thursday revised up the Asian economy’s growth outlook to 2.6 per cent in 2026, reported Xinhua.
The seasonally adjusted real gross domestic product (GDP), modified for inflation, was up from an expansion of 2.0 per cent estimated three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was slightly above the state-run Korea Development Institute’s estimate of 2.5 per cent, but it was below the Korea Institute of Finance’s projection of 2.8 per cent.
The upward revision was mainly attributable to the semiconductor-led export boom.
The real GDP jumped 1.7 per cent in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter, marking the fastest increase in five and a half years since the third quarter of 2020.
The central bank raised its 2027 economic growth outlook by 0.3 percentage points to 2.1 per cent.
The forecast for the consumer price inflation was lifted by 0.5 percentage points to 2.7 per cent for this year and by 0.3 percentage points to 2.3 per cent for next year.
