South Korea's central bank marginally cut its 2015 and 2016 growth outlooks for the local economy Thursday, citing still weak domestic demand and unfavorable external factors.
  

In its latest outlook, the Bank of Korea predicted Asia's fourth-largest economy to grow 2.7 percent in 2015, down from a 2.8 percent growth forecast three months earlier.
  

The central bank also revised down its growth outlook for next year to 3.2 percent from 3.3 percent.
  

The latest revision marks the third consecutive cut in its 2015 outlook from the initial 3.4 percent.
  

The central bank scaled down its growth outlook to 3.1 percent in April and again to 2.8 percent in July.
  

BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol offered poor domestic consumption and sluggish exports in the second quarter as the main reasons for the additional cut in the growth outlook.
  

"The local economy is expected to continue its recovery phase, centered around domestic consumption. However, uncertainties surrounding the path to recovery remain high," Lee told a press briefing, adding such uncertainties included a possible U.S. rate hike and slower-than-expected growth in China, the world's single largest importer of South Korean products.
  

A BOK official said the bank's growth outlook for the second half of the year stood at 1.1 percent, unchanged from three months earlier.

The BOK forecast the growth of the Chinese economy to continue slowing, further damaging South Korea's exports.
  

China is South Korea's largest trading partner, accounting for over 25 percent of South Korea's total exports in 2014. South Korea's exports have fallen every month since the beginning of the year, plunging 14.7 percent on-year in August and 8.3 percent last month.
  

"Domestic consumption is showing signs of improvement, breaking away from the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, but the upward trend still remains weak due to sluggish exports caused by slowing global demands," the BOK said in a press release.
  

"In 2016, the growth rate is expected to climb up to the low 3 percent range as the global economy gradually recovers, centered around advanced countries," it added.
  

Against such a backdrop, the central bank's monetary policy committee decided to hold its base interest rate steady at a record low of 1.5 percent for October.
  

On the domestic front, the BOK forecast local consumer prices to rise 0.7 percent this year, down 0.2 percentage points from the July outlook. (Yonhap)