The World Bank has raised South Korea's growth outlook for 2009 to above minus 1 percent, the country's Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.

The World Bank recently made public a report titled East Asia and Pacific Update: Transforming the Rebound Into Recovery which was designed to assess economic conditions of major Asian countries, the ministry said, noting that the bank forecast the South Korea's gross domestic product will contract 0.7 percent in 2009 and grow 3.7 percent in 2010.

The figures are sharp increases from the 3.0-3.5 percent contraction in 2009 and a 2-percent expansion in 2010 the bank predicted in June.

"A vigorous and timely fiscal and monetary stimulus in most countries in East Asia, led by China and Korea, along with decisive measures in developed economies to prevent a financial meltdown after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, have stopped the decline in activity and set in motion the regional rebound," the report said.

The country's economy marked the fastest on-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in the third quarter of 2009, thanks to improving domestic demand and strong exports.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said on October 26 that the country's GDP increased by 2.9 percent during the July- September period from three months ago, compared with a 2.6 percent growth tallied in a quarter earlier.

The figure marked the highest since the first quarter of 2002 when the GDP advanced at 3.8 percent on quarter.

According to the latest prediction by the government, South Korea's economy is expected to contract 1.5 percent this year, the first minus growth since the 1997-98 financial crisis.

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2009)