SEOUL, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday revised up South Korea's 2017 growth outlook by 0.2 percentage points to 3.2 percent, South Korean finance ministry said.
The IMF delegation, which has held an annual meeting with the South Korean government from early this month, announced the meeting result and upgraded its growth forecast for the Asian economy, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.
This year's growth outlook was revised up to 3.2 percent from 3.0 percent estimated by the international body in the previous month. Next year's growth forecast was unchanged at 3.0 percent.
The IMF said South Korea's short-term growth outlook was enhanced despite the escalated geopolitical risks on the Korean Peninsula, saying the country's economic recovery was bolstered by accommodative monetary policy.
However, it noted that the economy failed to maintain a sustainable growth due to structural problems such as the deepening of disparity and bipolarization, slowing productivity and the negative demographic structure.
The IMF cited poverty of the elderly, unemployment of the younger generation, shortage of social safety net and a dual structure in the labor market as the reasons for the structural problems.
The international body recommended South Korea to maintain accommodative monetary policy and expansionary fiscal policy.
The country's central bank froze its benchmark interest rate at an all-time low of 1.25 percent since June last year.
