South Korean central bank out with a statement 13 July
- factors inc N Korea
- local economy faces downside risk from possibly worse trade conditions due to China, US
- worsened financial conditions due to quickening pace of US rate normalization downside risk
They'll be relieved by Yellen's cautious tones yesterday then.
- sees 2017 exports growth +3.5% vs 3.3% prev f/cast
- current account surplus f/c revised down to $70bln, smallest since 2012
- 2018 current account surplus f/c $68bln vs $73bln f/c prev
- potential GDP growth around 2.8-2.95%
Earlier today Eamonn reported that the Bank of Korea kept its policy rate unchanged at 1.25% (record low rate). Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol followed up with a news conference:
- He announced the Bank had revised up its growth outlook this year to 2.8% (from 2.6% announced in April)
- Added that the boost did not take into account the supplementary budget of 11.2tln won (approximately US$9.8bn) being sought by the government (not yet approved by parliament).
