Korean economy expands 0.5% in Q1 q/q, continuing 0%-range growth streak

Korea's central bank revised its GDP growth upward for the first quarter.It's just by one-tenth of a percentage point... but it still puts the country's economic expansion below the one-percent mark.Shin Se-min has the numbers. Another quarter of slowing growth... but with a slight upward revision.The Korean economy grew half-a-percent in the first three months of this year from the previous quarter,… keeping growth in the zero-percent range again. The Bank of Korea's initial growth estimate was at zero-point-four percent.It's a slowdown from the fourth quarter last year, when the country logged growth of zero-point-seven percent. In fact, GDP expansion has sat in the zero-percent range for seven quarters,… with the exception of the third quarter last year, when a government stimulus package following the MERS outbreak helped nudge figures over the one-percent mark. The Bank of Korea attributed this to conditions that remain dismal both at home and abroad, while shedding light on the upward adjustment. "Government frontloading and a 6-point-8 percent increase in construction investment helped push GDP growth up by zero-point-one percentage points." Korea's exports dipped over one-percent, while consumer spending,… CONTRACTED point-two percent in the first quarter.The country's gross national income expanded two-point-seven percent. At the same time, the savings rate shot up by nearly two-percent... meaning despite a rise in income,… more Koreans are reluctant to spend. "Uncertainties in the local economy, driven by external factors have caused more households to close their wallets. That means, a lower key rate, normally designed to encourage people to take out loans won't help boost household spending." Experts add that a more aggressive and a long-term government policy to help prop up spending is needed,… instead of a stimulus package that only has limited effects. "With the ongoing corporate restructuring in the shipbuilding and shippin