The new South Korean government under President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday raised its 2017 growth forecast for the economy to 3 percent on an expected effect from a supplementary budget plan.
The economic policy direction report under the new government, which was inaugurated on May 10, was approved at a cabinet meeting chaired by President Moon.
According to the report compiled by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the new administration revised up this year's growth outlook to 3 percent from 2.6 percent estimated six months earlier.
The upward revision followed the parliamentary passage on Saturday of the extra budget plan worth 11 trillion won (about 10 billion U.S. dollars) to create decent jobs and achieve the goal of income-based growth.
The government forecast the supplementary budget would raise the country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth by 0.2 percentage points this year. It was in line with the Bank of Korea (BOK)'s revised growth forecast of 2.8 percent, which did not reflect the passage of the extra budget plan.
The BOK's upward revision was announced about two weeks ago.
Exports recovery in recent months also contributed to the upward revisions both by the government and the central bank. Exports, which account for around half of the economy, posted the second-biggest monthly figure in June, keeping a double-digit increase for the sixth consecutive month.
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