The South Korean government expects the country’s exports will gradually recover in the latter half of the year. 

The projection was issued during a meeting of macroeconomy and finance-related government agencies at the government complex in Seoul on Friday. 

First Vice Economy and Finance Minister Lee Ho-seung presided over the meeting and said export growth will hover at low levels in the first half of the year but improve in the second half driven by a rebound in the semiconductor industry and other factors. 

The vice minister, however, said the government sees more downside risks from the slowing global economy than expected, but ensured that the domestic financial market remains stable thanks in part to the more than 400 billion dollars worth of foreign exchange reserves the country holds. 

Early this month, the International Monetary Fund cut its global economic growth outlook for this year to three-point-three percent, zero-point-four percentage points lower than its estimate six months earlier. 

The World Trade Organization also slashed its global trade growth projection from three-point-seven percent to two-point-six percent.