(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) The Bank of Korea has frozen the benchmark interest rate at 2.5%. The central bank's Monetary Policy Committee chose Thursday to keep the rate steady for the eighth consecutive month, according to Korea's (KBS WORLD) website.
The central bank lowered the rate in May by a quarter percentage point to 2.5%. In July of last year, the bank slashed the key rate by a quarter percentage point to 3% and then lowered it to 2.75% three months later. Economists attributed the freeze to the current recovery trend.
They also said that further slashing the rate would have been burdensome for the economy amid concerns of South Korea's household debt of one-trillion won. Analysts said the South Korean central bank does not believe lowering the rate would be effective in dealing with the rising value of the local currency.
Some analysts predicted the bank will only increase the key rate after keeping it steady for sometime. They said the increase will likely come in the second half after the BOK gauges the effects of the US withdrawing its quantitative easing measures
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.