South Korea lifted its forecast for exports on Sunday, expecting annual growth of 12.8 percent in 2007 thanks to overall healthy expansion in the global economy, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The ministry also raised its forecast for imports growth to 13.9 percent and predicted this year's trade surplus would exceed $15 billion, narrowing from $16.1 billion recorded last year.
"The global economy is expected to show sustainable growth while a favourable outlook in key sectors will support our yearly forecast," it said in a statement, noting that exports would perform well despite a stronger won currency.
At the start of this year it had forecast exports would grow an annual 10.6 percent in 2007, while predicting imports to rise 10.9 percent from a year earlier.
It said on Sunday exports in the second half of the year would rise 11.2 percent from a year earlier, compared with an estimated 14.7 percent annual rise in the first six months of the year. Exports rose 14.4 percent in the whole of 2006. Annual imports growth is expected to pick up in the second half of the year to 14.0 percent from 13.7 percent in the first half.
In June, exports rose at a faster-than-expected annual rate of 15.9 percent, data showed last Monday, while the monthly trade surplus hit an all-time high, defying concerns that the firm currency and energy costs could hurt shipments abroad.
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