Jin said, "It is still premature to say the Korean economy has entered in an overheated growth stage as the nation's exports have yet to recover from its contraction in the growth rate for the last 12 months or so."

Jin, the concurrent minister of finance and economy, also said that the government will maintain the current key economic policies at least for the first quarter of this year, to see if the economy sets in a overgrowth stage.

According to Jin, the government does not plan to scale down the special consumption tax this year as it cut the tax rate once last year. Jin's comments refer to an announcement made by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy Wednesday that it would work out another tax cut this year on air conditioners and plasma display panel (PDP) wall-mounted television sets.

(Kim Ki-hun, khkim@chosun.com )