OECD chief upbeat about Korea`s economy

BUSAN -- Angel Gurria, Secretary-General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said yesterday he was optimistic about the future direction of the Korean economy.

He also said that it was premature to implement so-called exit strategies in terms of the global economy.

"Following a 7.9 percent contraction in late 2008, Korea has achieved one of the earliest and strongest recoveries in the OECD area, led by exports and fiscal policy," Gurria told a news conference at the third OECD World Forum at BEXCO in Busan.



"A sustained pick-up in exports in Korea is projected to help boost output with a rebound in domestic demand and a marked fall in unemployment in 2011."

The OECD chief added that it is "surprising" that the nation could grow more than 2 percent quarter-to-quarter.

His comments came after the central bank said on Monday that Korea expanded 2.9 percent in the third quarter from the previous quarter, which was the fastest in more than seven years.

The OECD projects the Korean economy to contract 2.2 percent this year and turn into a 3.5 percent growth in 2010. Korean Finance Ministry officials recently said a positive growth may be possible for the whole year of 2009.

Gurria said that the OECD will release the next economic outlook on Korea on Nov. 19, 2009.

The global economy is seeing an easing of the financial crisis but has long way to attract new capital investment, he said.

The unemployment issue will keep dragging some of economies in the world through 2010, he added.

Regarding rolling back stimulus measures, he said the world is not ready to take such steps.

"Generally I would say it is not time yet to withdraw the stimulus. We are not there yet. It is early but we should all start thinking how we should withdraw these extraordinary measures."

(yoonmi@heraldm.com)





By Kim Yoon-mi