OECD cuts South Korea’s growth outlook for 2023

South Korea's growth outlook for 2023 has been revised downwards by 0.2 percentage points to 1.6% by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), compared to its earlier projection of 1.8% growth in November. This revised estimate is consistent with the Bank of Korea's February evaluation, where it lowered its growth projection from 1.7%. However, the OECD has upgraded the growth forecast for 2024 by 0.4 percentage points to 2.3%. The OECD has also estimated South Korea's inflation to be 3.6% for 2023, a 0.3 percentage-point decrease from its previous forecast. This inflation outlook is marginally higher than the central bank's forecast of 3.5% last month. South Korea is currently grappling with inflation due to the escalation in energy costs amid the prolonged conflict between Russia and Ukraine.