Moody's Lowers South Korea Growth Forecast from 1.9% to 1.4%

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eun-byeol] The international credit rating agency Moody's announced on the 9th that it is lowering South Korea's real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast for this year from the previous 1.9% to 1.4%. Earlier, Moody's had lowered South Korea's growth forecast from 2.1% to 1.9% on the 16th of last month.

In a report related to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) published on the same day, Moody's stated, "South Korea is battling a severe spread of COVID-19," presenting this growth forecast.

However, Moody's added, "South Korea has announced fiscal measures aimed at easing liquidity pressures," and "these policy measures can help limit the damage to the economy."

Moody's also lowered the baseline economic growth forecast for the Group of Twenty (G20) member countries from the previous 2.4% to 2.1%. China's economic growth forecast was lowered from 5.2% to 4.8%, and the U.S. economic growth forecast was lowered from 1.7% to 1.5%.

Moody's predicted, "COVID-19 is rapidly spreading in various major countries outside China," and "even with continued quarantine measures, the COVID-19 outbreak will continue to restrict economic activities into the second quarter of this year."

Furthermore, Moody's added, "There is also a possibility of a much more negative scenario than the current baseline forecast," and "if consumption remains depressed for a long time and business closures are prolonged, corporate profits will be hit, layoffs will increase, and economic sentiment could be negatively affected."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.