Experts have suggested that 2023 marks the beginning of the full-scale L-shaped economic recession, requiring appropriate responses to high interest rates and low growth.

The Korea Industrial Technology Association held the '65th KITE Breakfast Seminar' at El Tower on the 12th. At this seminar, Kim Kwang-seok, Head of the Economic Research Department at the Korea Institute for Economic and Industrial Research, gave a presentation on the topic of 'Great Recession 2023 Economic Outlook: What Should We Prepare?'

Director Kim Gwang-seok stated that the economy in 2023 is in an L-shaped recession phase and that it is necessary to accurately grasp the macroeconomic trends.

He explained that although the global economy recorded minus 3.1% in 2020 due to the pandemic economic crisis, facing the most shocking economic crisis since the Great Depression of 1930, it entered a phase of recovery in 2021; however, after undergoing adjustments once due to the shock of the Russian War, adjustments due to the shock of inflation, and another adjustment due to the backlash of high interest rates, the global economy has now entered a low-growth phase with an average growth rate of less than 3.5%.

In response, the IMF lowered its forecast for the U.S. economic growth rate to 1.6% due to high inflation and high interest rates, and the World Bank also announced that it had lowered its forecast for the U.S. economic growth rate.

In addition, the Eurozone growth rate is projected to be 0%, and it was noted that 0% means negative growth is possible if things go wrong, and that these signals indicate the beginning of a recession.

Accordingly, it was stated that the potential growth rate of our economy in 2023 would be less than 2% due to the recession.

Along with this, it was predicted that the U.S. would take one big step and one baby step in interest rate hikes during the first half of 2023, and that the era of high interest rates would continue, and that the decline in real estate prices would continue throughout 2023 amidst the era of high interest rates.

It was analyzed that as interest rates rise and investment willingness is dampened, buying sentiment will reach its lowest level in history.

Chief Secretary Kim Kwang-seok stated, “Water does not flow backward,” adding, “Because we cannot change this fundamental economic trend, just as we wear appropriate clothes for the season, high inflation and low growth"An appropriate response aligned with the macroeconomic trend is needed," he argued.