South Korea's top central banker said Thursday he will seek an easing monetary policy to boost growth while guarding against any financial instabilities.

"It is necessary to put the focus on downward risks in economic growth and prices, while closely checking the macroeconomic circumstances," Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said in his New Year's message, noting that the country has seen a moderate recovery amid little inflation pressure.

"Next year, the local economy is forecast to continue such a trend of moderate growth on the back of the turnaround in the global economy and the improvement in domestic demand," he added. 

The central bank predicted the local economy to grow 3.2 percent in 2016, far rosier than forecasts by private think tanks of below 3 percent and the government's prediction of 3.1 percent.

The BOK also expected the country's annual inflation rate at an average of 2 percent over the next three years, sharply lower than the current target band.

Pointing to such external factors as the slow growth in the Chinese economy and wobbling emerging markets, he stressed the need for corporate restructuring to weed out indebted and unprofitable companies.

"The top priority should be the improvement of the constitution of our economy and expand growth potential, and the key for that is to speed up corporate debt restructuring," he said.

"In order to stabilize the financial market, it is also crucial to resolve mounting household debts in close cooperation among financial authorities," he added. (Yonhap)