South Korea's Finance Minister Warns Economy Could Worsen in Q2

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki warned Thursday that the nation's economy could worsen in the second quarter, due to coronavirus pandemic.

"There are worries that shocks to the real economy and employment may be large in the second quarter," said Hong during a meeting with other ministers.

The gloomy remark was made after the Bank of Korea announced that South Korea's economy declined by 1.4 percent in the first quarter.

The dip marked the economy's sharpest quarterly contraction since the fourth quarter of 2008.

It was actually above market expectations, as the economy was forecasted to contract 1.81 percent in the quarter, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax.

Private consumption went down by 6.4 percent on-quarter, marking the sharpest decline since plunged 13.8 percent in the first quarter of 1998.

Exports also fell 2 percent from the previous quarter, due to decreases in machinery, motor vehicles and chemical products.

However, facility investment went up by 0.2 percent, and construction investment increased by 1.3 percent.

Imports went down by 4.1 percent, due to decreased imports of motor vehicles and crude oil.

Meanwhile, government spending jumped 0.9 percent.

South Korea will allocate an extra aid package of 90 trillion won to boost the total to 240 trillion won to help coronavirus-hit companies and save jobs.