S. Korea's economy growth slows to 4.6 percent in Q3

South Korea gained a 4.6 percent economic growth in the third quarter over a year earlier, slowing from a 5.3-percent rise the previous quarter, largely due to slowing private spending, the country's central bank said Wednesday.

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 0.9 percent in the July-September period, compared with a 0.8-percent quarterly gain three months earlier, according to an initial estimate by the Bank of Korea.

The third-quarter annual gain was roughly in line with the median forecast of 4.57 percent in a poll of 14 financial institutions and think tanks by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency.

"The economy will be able to achieve about 5 percent economic growth for the year," Lee Kwang-ju, director of the central bank's economic statistics division was quoted by Yonhap Wednesday.

He said the economy is forecast to grow a seasonally adjusted 0. 8 percent in the fourth quarter from the third. "Private spending recovery will continue into the fourth quarter as well," Lee said.

South Korea's economy is expected to expand at above 5 percent this year on the back of a recovery in private spending and resilient exports, the news agency said. But high oil prices and a firmer won versus the U.S. dollar are causing worries that the economic growth may slow.

Also, signs of slowing growth in the U.S. and Asia may reduce demand for South Korean goods, curbing the economy in coming quarters.

For next year, the economy is forecast to expand at a mid 4- percent pace.

Source: Xinhua