The Bank of Korea(BOK) forecast the South Korean economy to expand by three percent this year, maintaining its previous outlook from last November.

After projecting growth of two-point-four percent for this year amid the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in February of last year, the central bank bumped up its projection for 2021, while lowering the forecast for 2020.

The economy shrank by one percent last year, the first negative growth since the Asian financial crisis in 1998 when it contracted five-point-one percent.

The BOK likely left its outlook unchanged for this year despite signs of a recovery in exports, concerned about sluggish consumption due to enhanced social distancing amid the latest epidemic wave that began last November.

Next year's growth forecast was also kept at the previous outlook of two-point-five percent.