Lee Chang-yong, governor of the Bank of Korea, noted at a press conference held right after the Monetary Policy Committee on the 28th that "Korea's potential growth rate has fallen below 2%."
The governor explained, "Due to structural factors like population aging, I believe that Korea's potential growth rate has dropped to around 1%."
He emphasized, "While a large country like the United States has a potential growth rate exceeding 2%, it is not advisable to take Korea's growth rate falling below 1% for granted."
The governor said, "To prevent the potential growth rate from declining, various restructuring efforts are necessary, and we must consider how to utilize foreign workers to raise the potential growth rate."
On that day, the Bank of Korea adjusted its growth forecast for this year upwards by 0.1 percentage point from the previous estimate of 0.8% to 0.9%, reflecting the consumption recovery effect due to the supplementary budget and the results of the U.S. tariff negotiations.
As for the growth rate forecast for next year, it was maintained at 1.6%.