Director Choi Ji-young of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on the 16th, "If there had been no war in the Middle East, the IMF would have forecast Korea's growth rate higher."
Meeting reporters in Washington, D.C., that day, Director Choi said, "The IMF's view of Korea is very positive," and stated accordingly.
On the 14th, the IMF released the "April World Economic Outlook (WEO)" and forecast Korea's economic growth rate at 1.9%. It maintained the previously released outlook. However, it projected inflation at 2.5%, up 0.7 percentage points (p) from the previous release.
Director Choi said, "In this WEO, (the IMF) lowered the global economic growth rate by 0.2 percentage points, but kept advanced economies unchanged," adding, "It judged based on a moderate oil price scenario, and in the short term, advanced economies are seen as having the capacity to respond."
She added, "Korea also appears to have maintained its growth rate in this context," and said, "If there had been no Iran crisis, the IMF might have forecast Korea's growth rate higher." She continued, "This is not the IMF's official position, but if a cease-fire happens quickly and the situation calms, the next outlook could show a much better growth forecast."
Regarding the IMF's expectation in its "Fiscal Monitor" report that Korea's liability will increase, Director Choi said, "What is fundamentally important is that we lowered the forecast for the debt ratio." In the report, the IMF projected that Korea's general government debt (D2) as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) will reach 61.7% in 2030. That is 2.6 percentage points lower than the October forecast last year (64.3%). Director Choi said, "I think it is an overreaction or a misunderstanding to take this as a warning from the IMF."
Director Choi, who passed the 37th administrative examination, left public office last month after serving as Deputy Minister for International Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Finance and Economy. She then took office as an IMF director on the 6th of this month.