SEOUL– South Korean manufacturing firms expect the country’s economy to grow in the low 1 percent range this year amid sluggish domestic demand and exports, a poll showed Tuesday.
The survey of 2,254 manufacturers, taken by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), showed their average growth estimate for Asia’s fourth-largest economy reaching 1.16 percent for this year.
Some 9 percent of the respondents forecast the economy to shrink in 2023 from a year earlier, with a mere 0.3 percent anticipating growth rates of more than 3 percent.
The median forecast is slightly lower than projections by the government and other institutions.
The finance ministry has projected the economy to grow 1.6 percent this year, with the Bank of Korea predicting a 1.7 percent gain. The state-run Korea Development Institute and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have put forward a growth estimate of 1.8 percent.
The KCCI attributed the manufacturers’ grim outlook to concerns about slumping domestic demand stemming from high inflation and interest rates, combined with falling overseas shipments.
The findings also showed 53.5 percent of the surveyed firms expecting their investments to be similar to last year’s levels. About 34 percent are planning to cut capital spending this year, with 12.6 percent saying they will invest more.
Those manufacturers say the South Korean economy will face such negative factors as high consumer prices and raw material costs, weak private consumption, persistent high interest rates and the won’s continued weakness against the U.S. dollar, according to the poll.
Source: Yonhap News Agency