Major global investment banks revised down their growth projections for South Korea next year to average 1.2 percent, far lower than a three percent expansion predicted a month earlier, data showed Monday.

Seven major banks said the economy will slow down due to the faster-than-expected worldwide recession and its impact on the nation's export-driven economy, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Korea Center for International Finance.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley predicted Asia's fourth- largest economy will grow 3.1 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.

JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch, however, projected South Korea's economy to grow 1.5 percent, while Barclays Bank expected a 1 percent expansion.

The Switzerland-based UBS gave the lowest prediction of minus 3 percent, in what would be the first contraction in 11 years.

(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2008)