South Korea's exports will likely pick up sharply in the second half of this
year on the recovery of advanced economies and increased shipments of
information technology (IT) products, a report showed Wednesday.
Overseas shipments of Asia's fourth-largest economy are expected to grow 10
percent in the July-December period, recovering from their current slump,
according to the report by Hyundai Research Institute.
The
export-reliant country has been suffering a sharp downturn in its outbound
shipments, experiencing a 7.3 percent loss in January and a 1.4 percent decline
in March.
The report attributed its upbeat outlook for the latter half
to signs of improvements in the United States and other advanced economies, as
well as an expected rise in exports of South Korea's key export items.
The International Monetary Fund recently raised the growth projection of the
world economy for this year to 3.5 percent, up 0.2 percent from its January
estimate.
The organization expected the U.S. economy to expand 2.1
percent this year, up from an earlier estimate of 1.8 percent, while upgrading
the growth forecast for Japan to 2 percent from 1.6 percent.
Last
year, exports of IT products reached an all-time high for the second consecutive
year. Exports of ships and automobiles to emerging markets jumped 22-35 percent,
with shipments of cars and petrochemicals products soaring 35-55
percent.
The report also said South Korean exports will be buoyed by
free trade pacts with the U.S. and the European Union. South Korea's free trade
agreement (FTA) with the U.S. came into force in mid-March, while its FTA with
the European Union took effect in July last year.
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