“Korean Economy Has Entered Upturn Phase“

The foreign investment banks forecast that the Korean economy has bottomed out.

The Goldman Sachs recently estimated, "The Korean economy has entered an up-trend with signs such as a 2.3 percent increase of the index of industrial product in October from a year ago." in an `Analysis of Aisa-Pacific Economies`.

The expectations for the recovery of the Korean economy are elevating as the business survey index (BSI) increased to 85.0 in November from 75.9 in October. And the contraction rate of facility investment decreased to 4.4 percent in November from 6.4 percent in October. Thus, the Goldman Sachs predicted that the Korean economy will grow based on steady domestic demand.

The Rehman Brothers also announced that, "Analysizing Korea`s major economic indexes in October, the economy is bottoming out." in the `Analysis of the World Economy`.

The industrial product during the September and October grew 1.9 percent from a year ago, which is a rapid reverse from 4.4 percent fall in August. And, during the September-October period, the wholesale and retail sales recorded a big rise of 6.2 percent from 3.6 percent rise in August.

The Barclays Capital said, "Korea`s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 1.8 percent during the third quarter from a year ago, and it is clearly contrasted to the negative growth in Taiwan and Singapore." It analysized that Korean corporations` restructuring and the government`s policy to stimulate economy are now in effect.

Lee Na-Yeon larosa@donga.com