South Korea's Q2 GDP beats estimates on chip export boom

SEOUL, July 23 : South Korea's economy grew faster than expectations in the second quarter, driven by a semiconductor export boom that offset a decline in construction investment, advance estimates from the Bank of Korea showed on Thursday. Gross domestic product expanded 0.6 per cent in the April-June period from a quarter earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis, faster than a median estimate of 0.4 per cent from a Reuters poll.The result marks a sharp deceleration from the blistering 1.8 per cent growth of the first quarter, but suggests chip-led growth can keep the economic engine running as policymakers embarked on a tightening cycle with a 25-basis-point hike in July."As long as we see quarterly (growth) rate that is higher than minus 0.1 per cent in the second half, on an average, it