S. Korean economy makes `stunning` rebound: Moody`s Economy.com

By Koh Byung-joon
SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's economy is making a "stunning" rebound
as the government's swift stimulus measures helped ease the worst downturn in
more than a decade, Moody's Economy.com said Thursday.
"South Korea is staging a stunning rebound after a close brush with a full-blown
financial crisis. Its economy is now experiencing one of the sharpest recoveries
among the world's major economies," said Alaistair Chan, an associate economist
at Moody's Economy.com, a division of Moody's Corp., which also holds the credit
ratings agency Moody's Investors Service.
Chan attributed the recent recovery in part to the fiscal and monetary policies
introduced by the government and the central bank, saying that those measures
helped stabilize Asia's fourth-largest economy.
South Korea's economy grew 2.6 percent in the second quarter from three months
earlier, a sharp turnaround compared with a 5.1 percent plunge in the final
quarter of 2008.
The government unveiled expanded fiscal spending and other stimulus measures to
help ease the sharp downturn. It's current forecast says the economy will shrink
1.5 percent for this year.
Chan predicted the Korean economy will contract 1.6 percent this year but added
that it is still comparatively better than the more than 7 percent contraction
the nation suffered in the wake of the 1997-98 financial crisis.
Moody's Investors Service earlier said that the Korean economy will "minimize"
its contraction this year before rebounding by around 3 percent next year, helped
by timely stimulus measures taken over the past year.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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