The International Monetary Fund (IMF) advised Seoul to accelerate structural reforms, particularly in the labor and service sector, at a time when the economy shows signs of improvement.

The international lender predicts the Korean economy to benefit from the pickup in the global economy and end the year with an annualized growth of more than 3.0 percent, but warns the growth momentum could be lost if the government does not implement structural reforms.

A six-member IMF delegates are in Seoul for their regular review of the Korean economy, meeting officials from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Ministry of Employment and Labor, Korea Fair Trade Commission, Financial Services Commission, BOK, Financial Supervisory Service and Korea Development Institute. The agency shares its finding from annual review on Nov.14.

The IMF upgraded its growth forecast for the global economy in 2017 to 3.6 percent last month, 0.1 percentage point higher than its projection in July. It also revised up its growth outlook for the Korean economy from 2.7 percent to 3.0 percent, in line with the expectations of the Korean government and central bank.

The IMF delegates mostly asked about progress in structural reforms with advices that recovery phase is the best time to carry out reforms.

Korean officials explained on the progress on labor reforms, deregulations, and actions to contain household debt.

By Cho Si-young and Choi Mira

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]