A foreign investment bank has offered a grim outlook on the South Korean economy for next year, saying it will grow by a mere zero-point-six percent. 

ING Bank shared its outlook in a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday, saying the export-driven economy will be vulnerable to what it projected will be economic contractions in the U.S. and Europe next year by zero-point-four percent and zero-point-seven percent, respectively. 

Its senior regional economist Kang Min-joo predicted Asia’s fourth largest economy will undergo a recession beginning in the fourth quarter of this year before rebounding in the second half of next year, but only to growth of less than one percent. 

The flagging European economies and other regions as a result of the protracted war in Ukraine and the sharp key rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve will drive the recession, she said. 

ING said the Korean real estate market also shows signs of slumping and its growing household debt is worrisome, but added that South Korea, in the longer-term, is on track to normalizing from the pandemic and does not need to panic.