IMF sees S.Korean economy shrinking in 2009 -Yonhap

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SEOUL, Feb 2 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund expects South Korea's economy to begin recovering in the latter part of the year but to show an overall contraction for 2009, Yonhap news agency on Monday quoted an IMF official as saying.

In a message sent to the news agency, Anoop Singh, director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department, said "the headline growth number for 2009 will be substantially negative," although no specific rate was given.

South Korea's gross domestic product declined by a seasonally adjusted 5.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 from the previous quarter, the second-biggest drop on record.

The central bank forecast in December the country's economy would expand 2 percent this year, but analysts have said South Korea's economy would contract by as much as 3 percent this year, marking the first drop in 11 years.

The IMF's latest forecast on South Korea's 2009 economic growth has been set at 2.0 percent, but it did not provide a revised forecast when it cut its forecast for global economic growth to 0.5 percent last month from 2.2 percent. (Reporting by Yoo Choonsik; Editing by Ken Wills)