The International Monetary Fund may lower Korea’s growth outlook from current 4.4 percent in its next economic report due April, a government official in knowledge of the fund’s visit to Seoul this week said Tuesday.

“A delegation from the IMF was at the Finance Ministry on Monday. I think they might change their growth outlook on Korea as things have changed from last September,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

“GDP projection is likely to be dimmed,” he added.

A cut in growth outlook at the IMF would follow downward adjustments made by the Korean government and private think tanks, whose projections darkened in the fourth quarter of last year on deepening European debt crisis and slowing consumer demand.

It raised its 2012 GDP projection for Korea to 4.4 percent in September, up from an earlier estimate of 4.2 percent. The figure sits higher than the 3.7 percent figure from the government and the BOK.

A delegation from the IMF is on an unofficial visit to Seoul this week, holding a series of meetings with senior officials from the Finance Ministry, Bank of Korea and the Financial Services Commission.

Another government official confirmed that the delegation team made an “intense” query about the impact of joining the U.S.-led sanctions against Iran.

“The IMF team was interested in knowing the assumptions used for the government’s growth projection, including possible downsides from joining the trade sanctions against Iran,” another official said.

The IMF releases its World Economic Outlook report every April and October.

By Cynthia J. Kim (cynthiak@heraldcorp.com)