[THE INVESTOR] The South Korean economy could grow at an average rate of 2.9 percent per year until 2019, a senior official of global rating agency Standard & Poor’s said on Sept. 7.

Kim Eng Tan, senior director of Asia-Pacific sovereign ratings at S&P, made the assessment citing South Korea’s has globally competitive companies and its industrial sector.

The rate is higher than those of advanced countries and it is also higher than the 2.6 percent growth recorded last year.

His assessment was included in a press release ahead of a seminar on credit risks in Seoul.

South Korea‘s per capita GDP could exceed US$30,000 in 2019, compared with $27,000 in 2016, he said.

He also said North Korea is a constant source of geopolitical volatility.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)