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Korea was not spared by the global contagion that eviscerated markets worldwide in 2008. The global financial uncertainty of the first half of the year morphed into a meltdown in the third quarter, sending the world economy into a full-fledged recession. Accordingly, the Korean economy in the first three quarters was characterized by economic slowdown, price instability and current account deficit, and from there, conditions became even worse. The economy shrank rapidly and current account balance turned to a surplus with tumbling exports under the influence of the global recession. Moreover, a slew of economic indicators fell to the level of the 1998 Asian currency crisis and inventory swelled sharply due to unstable consumer sentiment.
During this difficult period, the role of Samsung Economic Research Institute marshaled its resources to produce a wide array of research reports to help the general public, academia and companies understand the rapidly moving events of 2008 and to highlight key issues and policy options to government officials and lawmakers. The output included a post-crisis forecast as well as projection of the global economic landscape for the mid- and long-term, the first comprehensive examination of the situation seen in Korea.
The SERI Annual Report 2008 summarizes these research activities. Forecasts for 2009 also are included. We hope that readers will find the report to be a handy reference source.
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