SEOUL — With a comeback in exports, the South Korean economy was able to match the output of the previous quarter in the third quarter.

The July–September quarter saw quarterly increase of 0.6%, which was also the result of the second quarter. Following a 0.9% decrease in the second quarter, the Bank of Korea reported that exports increased 3.5%, mostly due to shipments of machinery and semiconductors.

The GDP estimate was somewhat greater than the 0.5% predicted by economists surveyed by Reuters.

Additionally, private consumption recovered, with quarterly growth of 0.3% after contracting by 0.1% in the previous period. Another positive development was the 2.2% expansion in construction investment, which had decreased by 0.8% in the previous quarter.

Investment in facilities fell 2.7%, following a 0.5% increase in the previous three months.

According to the central bank, South Korea's quarterly growth increased to 0.6% in the April–June period from 0.3% in the preceding quarter. For the fourth quarter of last year, the GDP shrank by 0.4%.

For the sixth consecutive meeting, the Bank of Korea held its basic interest rate at 3.5% on October 19. The bank cited two reasons for maintaining the rate: the battle between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas, which could lead to an increase in oil prices, and major nations' restrictive monetary policy positions.