Currency Turmoil Prompts Review of IMF Forecasts for South Korea

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday warned it would have to review its economic forecasts for crisis-ridden South Korea in the light of the won's steep fall. Meanwhile, as Reuters reports from Seoul, the incoming president has voiced his opposition to a package of reforms aimed at speeding up the IMF plan.

In an assessment on 3 December, the IMF predicted South Korea would see economic growth of about 2.5 per cent next year and record a current account deficit of $2.3bn (pounds 1.4bn).

But IMF Asia-Pacific mission chief, Herbert Neiss, said yesterday: "When we forecast in early December that the current account deficit would shrink . . . the won had …