IANS | 12 Apr, 2013
Bank of Korea (BOK), South Korea's central bank, Thursday cut its 2013
growth outlook to 2.6 percent from an earlier forecast of 2.8 percent.
The
downgrade came after the finance minister slashed its 2013 growth
forecast from 3 percent to 2.3 percent in late March, reported Xinhua.
The
BOK froze its benchmark interest rate at 2.75 percent despite the
unprecedented government pressure to cut rates to revitalize the
sluggish economy in the early period of new presidency under President
Park Geun-hye.
The finance ministry was scheduled to unveil its
supplementary budget, estimated at around 10 trillion won ($9 billion)
next week.
The central bank lowered its 2013 inflation outlook to 2.3 percent from an earlier estimate of 2.5 percent.
