Bank of Korea holds key interest rate steady at 1.75% for Jan.
- 5 years ago
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In its first monetary policy meeting of the year....South Korea's central bank forecast the local economy to grow by 2-point-six percent for 2019, down from last year's two-point-seven percent... and expected consumer prices to rise by one-point-four percent.
As widely expected, it kept its key rate steady
Kim Hyesung starts us off.
The Bank of Korea on Thursday kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1-point-75 percent for January.
This comes after it raised its key rate by a-quarter-of-a-percent for the first time in about a year last November.
The central bank pointed to weakening economic growth, and slowing exports and investment for its latest decision.
The local economy grew 2-point-7 percent in 2018, slowing from 3-point-one percent in 2017...to mark the slowest pace of growth in six years.
Data by the Korea Customs Service shows that between January 1st and 20th, overseas shipments fell by 14 percent on-year...and exports to China dropped by double digits.
Sales of semiconductors, a key driver of growth in recent years, tumbled almost thirty percent on-year in January.
Facilities investment in 2018 declined one-point-seven percent, and construction investment also fell four percent, hitting the lowest level in two decades.
Consumer prices rose 1-point-five percent in 2018, below the bank's two percent target.
Externally, the slowing global economy and the U.S.-China trade spat could further hurt Korea's exports.
At the same time, a less hawkish U.S. Federal reserve has eased pressure on the BOK to raise its key rate... with the U.S-Korea rate gap expected to stay at zero-point-75 percentage points.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.
In its first monetary policy meeting of the year....South Korea's central bank forecast the local economy to grow by 2-point-six percent for 2019, down from last year's two-point-seven percent... and expected consumer prices to rise by one-point-four percent.
As widely expected, it kept its key rate steady
Kim Hyesung starts us off.
The Bank of Korea on Thursday kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1-point-75 percent for January.
This comes after it raised its key rate by a-quarter-of-a-percent for the first time in about a year last November.
The central bank pointed to weakening economic growth, and slowing exports and investment for its latest decision.
The local economy grew 2-point-7 percent in 2018, slowing from 3-point-one percent in 2017...to mark the slowest pace of growth in six years.
Data by the Korea Customs Service shows that between January 1st and 20th, overseas shipments fell by 14 percent on-year...and exports to China dropped by double digits.
Sales of semiconductors, a key driver of growth in recent years, tumbled almost thirty percent on-year in January.
Facilities investment in 2018 declined one-point-seven percent, and construction investment also fell four percent, hitting the lowest level in two decades.
Consumer prices rose 1-point-five percent in 2018, below the bank's two percent target.
Externally, the slowing global economy and the U.S.-China trade spat could further hurt Korea's exports.
At the same time, a less hawkish U.S. Federal reserve has eased pressure on the BOK to raise its key rate... with the U.S-Korea rate gap expected to stay at zero-point-75 percentage points.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.