SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- 's central bank on Thursday revised up its 2018 growth outlook for the South Korean economy to 3 percent, predicting the growth rate above 3 percent for two straight years.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) upgraded its 2018 growth forecast to 3 percent from 2.9 percent estimated three months earlier. It was in line with the finance ministry's revised forecast of 3 percent, which is an identical figure estimated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The central bank set its 2017 growth outlook at 3.1 percent, predicting South Korea's economic growth rate staying above 3 percent for two years in a row.

The BOK announced the revised figures after freezing its benchmark interest rate at 1.5 percent during this year's first rate-setting meeting.

The bank revised down its outlook for consumer price inflation in 2018 by 0.1 percentage point to 1.7 percent.