Korea's economic growth to average 4.9 pct in 2011-2017: OECD

By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, June 29 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean economy is expected to expand at an
annual average of 4.9 percent between 2011, when the global recession ends, and
2017, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) Monday.
South Korea's economic growth rate during the cited period will be the
third-fastest among OECD members, trailing Luxembourg's 5.5 percent and
Slovakia's 5.3 percent, showed the report disclosed by the finance ministry.
The OECD says South Korea's solid economic fundamentals will fuel the country's
economic expansion after the global recession comes to an end, the ministry said.
The Paris-based club of 30 countries earlier predicted that Asia's fourth largest
economy would contract 2.2 percent this year but grow 3.5 percent next year.
According to the report, however, South Korea's consumer inflation and long-term
interest rates will peak in 2017, weighing heavily on the lives of people in the
low-income bracket.
South Korea's consumer inflation rate will rise from 2 percent in 2010 to 3
percent in 2017, the second-highest among the OECD nations and 1 percentage point
higher than the Seoul government's mid- to long-term goal of 2 percent.
South Korea's long-term interest rate is projected to be 7 percent, the highest
figure among the OECD member countries and 2 percentage points higher than the
current rate, it said.
"OECD officials I met recently viewed the future of the Korean economy very
positively," a ministry official said. "But they expressed concern over rising
consumer inflation and interest rates."
ylee@yna.co.kr
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