KDI "코로나19로 소비•수출 감소하며 한국 경기위축 심화"
Asia's fourth largest economy continues to contract due to a sharp decline in consumption and exports.
That's an assessment by a state-run think tank in South Korea.
Meanwhile, economists around the world now predict the global economy to drop sharply only to be followed by a painfully slowly recovery, similar in shape to the Nike logo.
Post COVID-19 economic recovery, not looking good... our Kim Jae hee explains.
The Korea Development Institute says the local economy is shrinking fast due to a drop in both exports and domestic spending.
The state-run think tank's monthly evaluation report on Tuesday,... said retail sales in March declined 8 percent on-year and exports in April fell 24-point-3 percent on-year to around 37 billion U.S. dollars.
Korea Customs Service data for the first ten days of May showed an even larger on-year fall of 46-point-3 percent.
The KDI analyzed that production in the service sector has already significantly decreased,... and the economic fallout is spreading to the manufacturing sector as well.
The think tank said that the possibility of global economic stagnation is rising,... as major countries around the world are seeing economic indicators fall.
It added that sluggish external demand is expected to continue for some time,... as major economies like the U.S. and the EU are restricting movement.
Amid the grim economic figures,... the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday,... that experts predict a "swoosh-shaped" recovery for the global economy,...
where the sudden sharp drop is followed by a painfully slow recovery.
That recovery may be slower than a V or U shaped recovery,... and once the rebound starts, it would be steady and gradual.
The report said major Western economies may not be able to recover to 2019 levels of output until late next year, or even longer than that.
Kim Jae-hee, Arirang News.
