(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Seoul August 24 (QNA) - South Korea's consumer price growth remained below two percent for 21 straight months in July. According to data by Statistics Korea the country's inflation rate remained at one-point-one percent in both the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year and one-point-six percent in the second quarter. Consumer price growth in Japan steadily increased during the same periods marking one-point-four percent one-point-five percent and three-point-six percent respectively according to Korea's (KBS WORLD) website. South Korea's rate of one-point-six percent in the second quarter is lower than the two-point-one percent average for 34 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It is also lower than the average of two percent for G7 nations. South Korea's consumer price growth has remained below two percent for 21 straight months since November 2012 when it posted one-point-six percent. It is the first time since 1965 that the country remains below the two percent level for this long a period of time. Experts view that the consumer growth rate should stay around two to three percent to ensure economic vitality. If low prices continue for a long time it could lead to low consumption slow investment and a deflation. Some experts have raised the possibility of South Korea falling into a Japanese-style period economic stagnation. (QNA)
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