SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's central bank on Thursday maintained this year's economic growth outlook, leaving its headline inflation forecast unchanged.

After the rate-setting meeting, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said real gross domestic product (GDP), adjusted for inflation, was expected to grow 2.1 percent in 2024. It was unchanged from the estimate in November last year.

The BOK outlook was lower than forecasts from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The central bank said the domestic economy was projected to maintain its modest recovery trend due to the better-than-expected export despite the weakened recovery momentum in consumption and construction investment.

Headline inflation outlook for 2024 was left unchanged at 2.6 percent amid the sluggish consumption recovery.

The BOK expected the real GDP to expand 2.3 percent in 2024, setting next year's headline inflation estimate at 2.1 percent.