President Moon Jae-in has urged the Finance Ministry and other government agencies to make painstaking efforts to achieve a four-percent economic growth this year. 

Presidential Spokesperson Park Kyung-mee said on Tuesday Moon gave his directive during a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day. 

The president said the nation already logged a one-point-six percent growth in the first quarter from the previous quarter, more than double the initial forecast. He said if the three remaining quarters each see zero-point-seven percent to zero-point-eight percent on-quarter growth, the nation will be able to meet the four-percent growth target. 

The government previously raised its gross domestic product growth forecast for the year from three-point-two percent to the mid-to-late three percent range, but Moon further raised it to four percent during his special public address on Monday. 

After a briefing by Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki that the nation’s exports posted more than an 80 percent growth in the first ten days of May on year, Moon also instructed officials to sufficiently secure means of transportation so there would be no delay in outbound shipments.