S. Korean economy to recover in H1 of next year: poll

SEOUL, April 23 (Yonhap) -- A majority of South Korea's leading businessmen
expect the economy to recover in the first half of 2010 after its first
contraction in more than a decade this year, a poll showed Thursday.
According to the survey of executives from the country's top 20 business groups,
60 percent of the respondents said the economy will likely bounce back from this
year's contraction during the first half of next year.
Of those predicting a recovery early next year, 80 percent said the economy is
likely to make a U-shaped recovery, while the remainder predicts an L-shaped
rebound, according to the survey conducted by the Federation of Korean
Industries.
The economy, Asia's fourth-largest, is feared to lapse into its first recession
this year in more than a decade, as demand for Korean goods at home and abroad
has declined amid the protracted global downturn.
The Bank of Korea, the country's central bank, predicted earlier this month that
the economy will contract 2.4 percent this year due to falling exports and
sluggish domestic demand.
The survey also showed that around 75 percent of the respondents said the
economic slowdown is decelerating, while 65 percent said first-quarter corporate
earnings declined from a year earlier.
sam@yna.co.kr
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