Moody's says Mers outbreak credit negative for South Korea

[SEOUL] Moody's Investors Service said on Thursday the recent fallout from the ongoing Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) outbreak is a credit negative to South Korea as the virus has weakened consumer sentiment in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

"The spread of the illness is credit negative for the sovereign, because it is dampening consumer confidence amid already-weak domestic demand, threatening to undermine an incipient recovery in economic growth," said Moody's in a statement. "Policy stimulus measures to counter the effect on the economy could also have credit-negative side effects."

REUTERS