한국은행 “올 성장률 -0.2 전망"…기준금리 0.25p 인하...연이율 0.5로br br We start at the Bank of Korea.br The central bank has slashed its growth forecast for the South Korean economy this year to sub-zero,... due to the COVID-19 pandemic.br Interest rates also drop to a new record low.br For more, we have our Eum Ji-young on the line for us.br Ji-young, start by telling us more about the revised growth forecast.br Mark, the central bank has forecast the local economy to contract,... releasing its revised expected growth rate of negative 0-point-2 percent. This is down a whopping 2-point-3 percent from its previous forecast.br The revision,... announced on Thursday, significantly differs from its forecast of 2-point-1 percent back in February.br The only two previous times on record that actual GDP shrank were when Korea's GDP growth was negative 1-point-6 percent in 1980 and negative 5-point-1 percent in 1998.br The downgrade reflects contracted business activities both at home and abroad due to the pandemic.br The central bank's monetary policy board noted in a statement that because of the effect of COVID-19, consumption has contracted, exports have slowed and unemployment has risen, particularly in the service sector.br But the central bank kept its economic growth forecast for 2021 at 3-point-1 percent.br Slightly earlier than its growth forecast, the Bank of Korea also announced it was slashing its key interest rate to a record low.br Right Mark. Reflecting the grim outlook of the country's economy this year, the Bank of Korea cut its key interest rate to a historic low of point-5 percent,... down 25 basis points.br The Bank of Korea slashed its benchmark rate to point-75 percent in March but kept it unchanged for April as the central bank opted to monitor the impact of measures already imposed. That's all I have for now, but I'll bring more updates in a later newscast. Back to you Mark.