The International Monetary Fund(IMF) has lowered its economic outlook for South Korea to the two percent range.
 
In its World Economic Outlook released on Tuesday, the IMF forecast that South Korea’s gross domestic product will post growth of two-point-seven percent this year. That’s half a percentage point lower than the three-point-two percent projection the organization issued last October.
 
The IMF’s outlook is four-tenths of a percentage point lower than the South Korean government’s projection of three-point-one percent and three-tenths of a percentage point lower than the Bank of Korea’s outlook.
 
The IMF said a downturn in China’s import demand led to readjusting South Korea’s economic growth outlook, citing the trade relations between the two economies.
 
The organization projected that next year, South Korea will post growth of two-point-nine percent. That’s down three-tenths of a percentage point from its earlier forecast issued in February.
 
The IMF projected that advanced economies will witness gradual growth like last year. However, it was also quick to add that the aging population, low productivity growth and growth in debts due to quantitative easing could weigh on potential growth.
 
The IMF also lowered its projection for the U.S. from two-point-six percent to two-point-four percent. It also slashed forecasts for key eurozone countries, including Germany, France and Italy, by two-tenths to three-tenths of a percentage point.
 
The IMF also readjusted its 2017 outlook for the world economy from three-point-six percent to three-and-a-half percent.
 
As risk factors to the global economy, the IMF picked sudden capital outflows from emerging economies, impacts from the shift in China’s growth strategy and a decline in the world economy’s potential growth.