S.Korea's Q4 GDP growth falls to 1.5-year low

South Korea's economic growth declined to the lowest in one and a half years in the fourth quarter on uncertainties at home and abroad, central bank data showed Wednesday.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.4 percent in the October-December quarter from the previous quarter, down from a 0.6 percent expansion in the third quarter, Bank of Korea (BOK) data showed.

It marked the lowest increase since the second quarter of 2015 as private consumption slowed down on domestic political unrest.

Outlook for future growth remains uncertain on external uncertainty, caused by the launch of the Trump administration in the United States.

The Dec. 9 impeachment of President Park Geun-hye over the influence-peddling scandal discouraged consumers from spending money for concerns about stable economic recovery amid the lack of control tower.

U.S. President Donald Trump took office last week. His election boosted worry about the export-driven South Korean economy as Trump is known to be against free trade.

South Korea's fiscal expenditure rose 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter after advancing 1.4 percent in the previous quarter as the government frontloaded its 2016 budget to the first half.

Investment in the construction sector, which had led recovery in the domestic front on booming housing market, retreated 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter from three months earlier. It was the first downturn in a year.

The construction investment jumped 3.5 percent in the third quarter as households rushed to buy new home with borrowed money amid the record-low interest rates and eased regulations on mortgage financing.

The central bank cut its benchmark rate from 3.25 percent in July 2014 to an all-time low of 1.25 percent in June last year.

Lending rates turned upward here, increasing a debt-servicing burden for households as the U.S. Federal Reserve indicated three rate hikes this year after raising its policy rate by a quarter percentage point in December. Enditem