ADB Lowers Growth Outlook for Korea

The Asian Development Bank slashed Korea's economic growth outlook for next year on Wednesday, citing the global economic slowdown.

The latest prediction is 2.3 percent, down 0.3 percentage point from its previous projection in July.

It is lower than the government's outlook (2.5 percent) but higher than the OECD's (2.2 percent) and those of the Bank of Korea and the International Monetary Fund (2.1 percent).

The ADB maintained its forecast for this year at 2.6 percent, the same as the BOK. Its inflation estimates were also unchanged at 4.5 percent for this year and 3 percent for next year.

The ADB slashed its average growth outlook for 46 developing countries in Asia from 4.6 percent to 4.3 percent for this year and from 5.2 percent to 4.9 percent for next year, citing risks from aggressive monetary tightening by major economies, Russia's war in Ukraine and China's downturn.