Korea is preparing a renewed push for economic recovery after this week’s general election in a desperate attempt to jump-start the economy after a worse than expected first quarter, government officials said Sunday.

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance plans to announce a series of policies by the end of April to boost jobs for youth and women, and to issue up to five new licenses for duty-free shops in Seoul, they said.

The ministry’s move comes as the Korean economy, which fared poorly in the first two months of 2016, showed limited signs of improvements in March.

Combined sales at department stores run by Hyundai, Lotte and Shinsegae rose 4.8 percent last month from a year earlier, according to the government’s preliminary data. Sales of cars jumped 18.9 percent on-year in March, boosted by the government’s extended policy on tax cuts for auto consumers.

Industrial production rebounded in February to a 3.3 percent rise from a 2.1 percent drop on-year in the previous month, the highest in six years and five months.

Exports saw a slower decline of 8.2 percent fall in March, the first single-digit decrease in four months.

To support the recovery momentum, the government is trying to pass key economic bills that have been stalled in a wrangling between the ruling Saenuri Party and The Minjoo Party of Korea, while the 19th National Assembly completes its term on May 29. The bills are aimed at restructuring the labor market and reforming services industry.

The feasibility of corporate restructuring, one of the key policies pledged by the Park Geun-hye administration, will hinge on the result of the general election Wednesday, an industry report by Samsung Securities said.

Meanwhile, economists are skeptical whether some positive numbers in the first quarter really meant a recovery.

Emily Dabbs, economist at Moody’s Analytics, said in an email interview that economic growth in the first quarter seems to have slowed from the previous quarter, due to falling exports.

She estimated a first-quarter GDP growth of 0.4 percent, on-quarter, while other research institutes forecast 0.3-0.7 percent growth.

“Korean export growth has struggled in the opening quarter of 2016 and this is hurting production and pushing up unemployment,” Dabbs said.

She said the government’s fiscal stimulus may help boost domestic demand, while the Bank of Korea will likely keep rates on hold due to concerns over rising household debt.

The central bank is to announce its decision on key rate April 19, after nine consecutive months of holding it at 1.5 percent.

KDB Daewoo Securities economist Suh Dae-il also said he does not believe the economy will achieve the government’s 3.1 percent growth target, due to gloomy exports outlook on slow growth of emerging markets and a structural contraction in investment sentiment.

Korea saw its growth sliding to 2.6 percent last year from 3.3 percent in 2014.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)