The state-run Korea Development Institute(KDI) has maintained its growth outlook this year at one-point-five percent.

In an updated report on Thursday, the think tank said its outlook was unchanged despite a slowdown in the rise of consumption due to recoveries in investment in the construction sector and exports.

The KDI projected private spending to expand at two-point-five percent, down from the previous forecast of three percent, after recovery in overseas travel has slowed.

The institute expected construction investment to jump to one-point-three percent from the previously projected zero-point-four-percent, citing the limited impact of financial instabilities in the sector.

The KDI attributed an increase in its forecast for the current account balance from a surplus of 16-point-four billion U.S. dollars to 31-point-three billion dollars to a better-than-expected performance in the goods balance and primary income account. 

The institute placed its inflation forecast at three-point-five percent, up zero-point-one percentage point, citing the recent surge in global oil prices.