SEOUL, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Tuesday it held steady the 2024 growth outlook for South Korea at 2.3 percent on the back of great resilience in major global economies. The latest projection is the same as its forecast made in January when it raised this year's growth outlook for South Korea by 0.1 percentage point, citing "surprisingly resilient" global economic activity. It is rosier than a 2.2 percent growth forecast by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and by the South Korean government. The Bank of Korea (BOK) has set its outlook at 2.1 percent. The IMF also kept its growth forecast for South Korea in 2025 unchanged at 2.3 percent. The South Korean economy has been on a recovery track on the back of rising exports, particularly strong semiconductor sales. In March, exports advanced 3.1 percent on-year to US$52.2 billion, the sixth consecutive monthly gain. As for inflation, the organization expected the country's consumer prices to rise 2.5 percent this ye ar before falling to 2.0 percent in 2025. The Seoul government has said consumer prices are forecast to ease at a slower pace than earlier expected amid high prices of energy and food before reaching the target rate of 2 percent by around the end of this year. The finance ministry expected this year's prices to rise 2.6 percent. For the global economy, the IMF raised the growth forecast for this year by 0.1 percentage point to 3.2 percent. "Despite gloomy predictions, the global economy remains remarkably resilient, with steady growth and inflation slowing almost as quickly as it rose," the organization said in the latest report. It, particularly, revised up its growth forecast for the United States by 0.6 percentage point to 2.7 percent this year. But the IMF pointed to remaining inflation risks and economic divergence across nations as major challenges, calling for putting first priority on rebuilding fiscal buffers. "Even as inflation recedes, real interest rates remain high, and sovereign debt dyna mics have become less favorable," the report read. "Unfortunately, fiscal plans so far are insufficient and could be derailed further given the record number of elections this year." Source: Yonhap News Agency