According to South Korea's state-run economic think tank,... the country's sluggish economy may be slowing down even more,... due to waning demand and exports.
Our Choi Si-young, with the details.
The Korea Development Institute says the country's economic slowdown is further "deepening"... according to its latest monthly report released Sunday.
The think tank has repeatedly mentioned the slowdown over the past five months,... but this is the first time it said the trend was "worsening".
But, KDI made it clear,... that this doesn't necessarily indicate a more serious downturn.
The slowdown has been attributed to decreasing exports and low domestic demand.
Total exports in March dropped eight-point-two percent on-year,... while retail sales growth in the months of January and February... fell three-point-two percentage points compared to a year earlier.
Declines in facilities investment and industrial production also compounded the slowdown.
Facilities investment in February tumbled twenty-seven percent on-year,... while mining production also fell by almost three percent,... with construction down eleven percent.
In the report, the Institute said the number of newly employed workers in February,... numbering around three-hundred-thousand for the biggest increase in a year,... is largely owed to the government's job-creation efforts.
KDI says the country's financial market is stable overall, but said the equity markets were down,... due to the sluggish global economy and other external factors.
Choi Si-young, Arirang News.
