South Korean Monetary Policy Meeting
September 8, 2011
The Monetary Policy Board had five times earlier hiked the key central bank rate by 25 basis points, doing such in July and November of 2010 and January, March and June of this year. While expressing confidence in future South Korean growth, a statement after officials again declined to tighten further observed that “uncertainty as to its growth path have intensified due to the impact of external risk factors” such as “the economic sluggishness in major countries, the sovereign debt problems in Europe, and international financial market unrest” Even though CPI inflation had risen in August to a 3-year high of 5.3% and core inflation had climbed to 4.0%, policymakers held their fire today, although the decision not to raise rates a sixth time was not unanimous. At the start of the Great Recession, the Bank of Korea’s key rate was at 5.25%, but it was reduced by 325 bps in the space of six months.
Copyright 2011, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: Bank of Korea
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