South Korea GDP Rebounds in Q1

South Korea’s gross domestic product rebounded in the first quarter on brisk export and facility investment, central bank data showed Friday, Xinhua reported. Seasonally-adjusted real GDP amounted to 395.6 trillion won ($367.7 billion) in the January-March quarter, up 1% from the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea. It was down 0.1 percentage point from the preliminary figure, but it marked a rebound from a 0.2% decline in the fourth quarter of last year. The first-quarter growth was in line with the BoK’s growth forecast of 3% for this year. If the real GDP grows 0.9% in the second quarter, it would meet the bank’s growth outlook, according to the BoK’s analysis. Export and facility investment led the economic recovery. Exports, which account for about half of the South Korean economy, grew 4.4% in the first quarter from a year earlier on solid demand for semiconductor and machinery. Imports rose 4.9% in the quarter on rising demand for natural gas. Facility investment climbed 3.4%, marking the highest quarterly increase since the second quarter of last year.