South Korea's government on Monday set its 2019 growth outlook for the economy at a range of 2.6-2.7 percent on the expected slowdown in export amid the external uncertainties.

The growth forecast was proposed at the meeting of economy-related ministers, chaired by President Moon Jae-in. It was lower than the Bank of Korea (BOK)'s outlook of 2.7 percent.

The government revised down this year's growth outlook to a range of 2.6-2.7 percent from 2.9 percent estimated five months earlier. The real gross domestic product (GDP) grew 3.1 percent last year.

The double-digit monthly expansion in chip export led this year's export, which was predicted to surpass 600 billion U.S. dollars.

Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, was forecast to rise 3.1 percent in 2019, nearly half of the expected 6.1 percent expansion in 2018.

The outlook for next year's current account surplus was set at 64 billion U.S. dollars, down from this year's 74 billion U.S. dollars.

Facility investment was projected to gain 1 percent next year, a turnaround from the expected 1 percent reduction this year. Investment in the construction sector was forecast to shrink 2 percent in 2019.

The growth outlook for intellectual property rights investment was placed at 2.8 percent on the government's hike in research and development (R&D) budget for new growth industries.

Private consumption, another growth engine of the economy, was expected to expand 2.7 percent next year amid the growing number of Chinese travelers to the country. This year's forecast for consumer spending was set at 2.8 percent.

The economy was projected to add 150,000 jobs in 2019, higher than an employment of 100,000 for this year. The government put its top priority on job creation, but it had yet to take effect compared to an employment of 320,000 last year.

The headline inflation outlook was set at 1.6 percent in 2019, unchanged from the previous year.

To reinvigorate the flagging economy, the government planned to frontload 61 percent of next year's budget worth 469.6 trillion won (415.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half. It was higher than a yearly average of 58.2 percent for the past five years.

The 2019 budget was up about 40 trillion won (35.4 billion U.S. dollars) compared with this year's fiscal spending.