This analysis converts production volume estimates into South Korean prices, so is subject to price changes over time of South Korean goods. According to analyst Andrei Lankov, writing in 2017, a significant number of observers believe that the Bank of Korea is too conservative and the real growth rate is North Korea reported that the government budget has been increasing at between 5% and 10% annually from 2007 to 2015. Reported planned capital expenditure, mainly on roads and public buildings, increased by 4.3% in 2014, 8.7% in 2015 to 13.7% in 2016. According to a North Korea economist, the growth rate was 3.7% in 2017, lifting GDP to $29.6 billion in 2018. The Australian government estimated 1.3% growth in 2017, while the South Korean government estimated -3.5%.