Export growth slowed down in April, when Korea registered a current account deficit for the first time in two years, while domestic consumption and investment failed to rally as much as expected.

The Bank of Korea reported Monday that the current account recorded a deficit of US$909.5 million in April, as against a surplus of $1.114 billion in March. The country saw the first monthly current account deficit since April 2003, when it was $294 million in the red. The deficit came primarily because of hefty dividends paid to foreign investors by listed corporations settling their accounts in December.

Recovery trends in domestic demand and investment were still negligible. Industrial production in April increased 3.8 percent over the same month last year, but was down from the 4.9 percent recorded in March, according to the National Statistics Office. Investment in plants and facilities decreased 0.3 percent from April last year, reverting from a plus in March.

Wholesale and retail sales in April edged up 1.2 percent from April last year, but declined 0.4 percent from March. The government fears that business conditions will remain sluggish throughout the second quarter.

In a lecture delivered at an economic forum on Monday, Finance Minister Han Duck-soo said, "In the second quarter, too, the country is expected to achieve economic growth of 2.7 percent … or slightly higher."

(Pak Jong-se, jspark@chosun.com )