Moody's cuts South Korean growth estimate for 2016

SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Yonhap) -- Global rating agency Moody's Investors Service said on Friday it has slashed its growth outlook on the South Korean economy for 2016 to 2.5 percent, citing the fall in its exports to China and Japan.

Earlier, the credit rating firm had expected Asia's fourth-largest economy to expand by 3 percent next year.

Moody's, however, maintained its growth outlook for the economy for 2015 at 2.5 percent.

Moody's said the decision came as decreased shipments to China and Japan are expected to weigh down on South Korea's economic growth and consumers' sentiment.

Moody's said its growth outlook for the Japanese market was also revised down to 1 percent from 1.5 percent, while cutting the growth estimate on China by 0.2 percentage point to 6.3 percent.

The average growth estimate for the world's top 20 economies came to 2.8 percent in 2016, down 0.3 percentage point from the previous estimate, it added.

colin@yna.co.kr
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