SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s finance minister said on Monday the economy is slowing at a more rapid pace than previously expected and would bottom in the first half of next year.
“Our economy’s growth is expected to slow next year due to the effects from a global economic slump, and the difficulty will be focused on the first half,” Minister Choo Kyung-ho said at the opening of a meeting with the ruling party leadership.
The meeting was held ahead of the government’s announcement later this week of its economic policy strategies for next year, which will be the first full-year statement for President Yoon Suk-yeol’s administration since its launch in May.
(Reporting by Choonsik Yoo; editing by Diane Craft and Stephen Coates)