Korean economy grows 0.9% on-quarter in Q3 3분기 GDP 전년대비 3.2% 성장..5분기만에 최저

Korea′s third quarter GDP growth is out... and although the economy grew nearly 1 percent on-quarter,... the pace of growth has fallen short of expectations. Officials put the blame on sluggish exports... and facilities investment. Hwang Ji-hye has the details. It was not all good news... although the Korean economy accelerated in the July to September period. The Bank of Korea said Friday... that the domestic economy grew zero-point-9 percent in the third quarter this year from a quarter earlier,... speeding up from a zero-point-5 percent growth in the April to June period. That,... however, was largely due to a low base in the second quarter... when domestic consumption dropped sharply after April′s ferry disaster. It was also the increased government spending that led the rise. "The execution of public finances that were delayed because of the local elections and Sewol-ho ferry disaster took place in the third quarter, contributing to third quarter growth." From a year earlier,... the Korean economy expanded 3-point-2 percent,... the slowest pace in more than a year. And Korea′s traditional growth engine exports... slipped 2-point-6 percent in the third quarter from the previous quarter,... while the output in the country′s manufacturing sector dropped zero-point-9 percent. That marks the first drop in five and a half years. The central bank cited the sluggish global economy... and the recent poor performance by some of Korea′s major conglomerates like Samsung Electronics as major reasons. Facility investment also dropped zero-point-8 percent, marking a slowdown from a surprise rise in the second quarter this year... of 1-point-1 percent. Hwang Ji-hye, Arirang News.