Korea’s economic growth is expected to slow to around an annual 2.5 percent over the next two years, according to a global credit rating agency.

Moody’s Investors Service said that the slowdown will occur as Korea is affected by sluggish growth in countries such as China and the emerging markets.

The forecast was included in the Global Macro Outlook 2015-17 issued by Moody’s today.

Along with Korea, the United States and the United Kingdom are also expected to grow by around 2.5 percent, the report said.

“Muted global economic growth will not support a significant reduction in government debt or allow central banks to raise interest rates markedly,” said the report’s author, Marie Diron, senior vice president for credit policy. “Authorities lack the large fiscal and conventional monetary policy buffers to protect their economies from potential shocks.”

As for other G20 countries, the agency forecasted that their economic growth next year and in 2017 would average 2.8 percent.

China, however, is likely to grow by just under 7 percent this year, Moody’s said, followed by 6.3 percent in 2016 and 6.1 percent in 2017.

By Kim Ji-hyun (khnews@heraldcorp.com)