Foreign investment banks (IBs) have raised their outlook on South Korea's economic growth for this year, citing a sound recovery in exports, a report showed Sunday. 
The average growth estimate by 10 IBs including Barclays, Morgan Stanley and Nomura stood at an annual 2.5% at the end of March, up from 2.4% tallied the previous month, according to a report by the Korea Center for International Finance (KCIF), cited by state news agency (Yonhap). 
Asia's fourth-largest economy posted 2.7% growth in 2016. 
The IBs cited the country's exports, which have been gaining ground on the back of a pickup in global demand as a main factor for their revision. 
Korea's exports reached US$48.9 billion in March, the highest in more than two years on brisk sales of its mainstay goods including memory chips. 
Its outbound shipments have been on the rise for the last five months. 
Local think tanks have also revised up their growth estimates to about 2.5%, from 2.1-2.4%. 
The IBs, however, noted that the diplomatic standoff with China over the deployment of a US missile defense system in South Korea and ailing shipbuilding industry remain downside risks. 

Source: QNA