Research Institute Sees South Korea's Economy Shrinking 0.3% in 2020

The coronavirus pandemic will pull down South Korea's economy by 0.3 percent this year, according to a forecast by Hyundai Research Institute (HRI).

The said forecast by the private research institute is more optimistic than that made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which said that Korea's economy would diminish by 1.2 percent.

IMF predicted the global economy to contract 3 percent this year, expected to be its worst since the 1930's Great Depression.

According to HRI's forecast, Korea's economy would shrink 0.9 percent in the first half, but and bounce back with a 1.4 percent growth in the second half.

The government's massive stimulus packages, according to HRI, would revive growth.

South Korea's economy dipped by 1.4 percent on-quarter in the first quarter, which is the sharpest quarterly contraction it experienced since the fourth quarter of 2008.

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki warned last week that the pandemic's effects on the country's exports and job markets could worsen in the second quarter.