[2020 National Audit] Lee Ju-yeol "Potential Growth Rate May Have Declined but Difficult to Conclude It's in the 1% Range"

October 23 National Assembly Planning and Finance Committee Audit
Chairman Lee "It is difficult to definitively say it has fallen to the 1% range"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] On the 23rd, Lee Ju-yeol, Governor of the Bank of Korea, stated regarding the potential growth rate, "It is difficult to definitively conclude that it has definitely fallen to the 1% range, and the Bank of Korea will additionally estimate it."

Governor Lee responded this way during the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee audit in the morning, addressing the point made by Yoo Kyung-joon, a member of the People Power Party, who said, "The potential growth rate must have certainly fallen to the 1% range."

Governor Lee added, "The potential growth rate was estimated to be in the mid-2% range, but considering that actual growth has since declined, the potential growth rate is likely even lower than that."

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, also commented on this, saying, "The government believes that a certain portion of the potential growth rate has been impaired due to the COVID-19 crisis," but added, "I think it is an excessive claim to say that our potential growth rate is in the 1% range." He continued, "We will strive to increase capital input, labor input, and total factor productivity."