GEOPOLITICAL concerns, new regulations introduced to curtail the boom in consumer credit and the policies of President-elect Roh Moo-Hyun are behind predictions of a slowdown in the South Korean economy in 2003. The Bank of Korea earlier this month lowered its 2003 GDP (gross dmestic product) forecast to 5% from 5.7% as a result of the above factors, as evidence emerged of a decline in the consmer spending that was behind South Korea's very successful 2002: in December last year, department-store sales fell by 17.3%from a year earlier.
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