South Korea: Activity Indicators Undergo Weak Patch

South Korea: Accommodative Policy Settings to Be Retained

Pockets of Structural Weakness Hobble Growth Potential

South Korea: Robust Exports Portends Growth Upside, Barring Trade Threat

Economist, Centennial Asia Advisors

Jason Tan

Economist

Centennial Asia Advisors

At Centennial Asia Advisors, we tell it like it is. We have no vested interests, no need for a China wall, and no reason to skew our outlook any other way. With over 30 years experience covering Asia’s political economy, you can be sure our conclusions and analyses are based on the unadulterated facts. Through years of fine-tuning our research methodologies, we deliver a quality of macroeconomic analysis few other houses can match.

Centennial Asia Advisors is an independent research and advisory firm that works with governments, multilateral institutions, financial firms and leading MNCs.

Economic Policy and Strategic Advisors

Macroeconomics

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<strong>Economy bottoming out?</strong> GDP grew 2.8% y/y in 4Q17, its slowest performance since 2008 and down from 3.8% in 3Q17. This meant that the economy expanded 3.1% in 2017. While that was the fastest since 2014, this owed much to the blistering pace set in 1H17. More recently, growth has been dragged down by weakness in automobile exports and construction.</li>
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<strong>Consumption strengthened but only with the help of public spending</strong>: Private consumption increased 3.4% y/y in 4Q17, up from 2.6% in 3Q17 while…</li>
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Economy bottoming out? GDP grew 2.8% y/y in 4Q17, its slowest performance since 2008 and down from 3.8% in 3Q17. This meant that the economy expanded 3.1% in 2017. While that was the fastest since 2014, this owed much to the blistering pace set in 1H17. More recently, growth has been dragged down by weakness in automobile exports and construction.

Consumption strengthened but only with the help of public spending: Private consumption increased 3.4% y/y in 4Q17, up from 2.6% in 3Q17 while…


South Korea: Policy to Support Prospects for Turnaround