The International Monetary Fund has revised down its 2012 growth outlook for South Korea sharply based on the latest economic conditions at home and abroad, the Finance Ministry said Monday.

Korea’s economy, Asia’s fourth-largest, is forecast to expand 3.5 percent this year, down from a 4.4 percent growth projected last September, according to the ministry.

The new forecast is lower than the 3.7 percent expansion predicted by the Seoul government in December.

The latest growth outlook is part of an IMF report on global economic conditions, which was submitted to a Group of 20 meeting held in Mexico in mid-January, the ministry said. It did not provide specific reasons for the revision.

Last week, the IMF cut its growth outlook for the global economy from 4 percent to 3.3 percent, citing the deepening eurozone debt problems.

The Washington-based organization also lowered its growth forecast for emerging economies including South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan from 4.5 percent to 3.3 percent for this year. 

(Yonhap News)