Bank of Korea keeps key interest rate at 1.5% for July
- 6 years ago
South Korea's central bank has left its key rate unchanged.... while revising *down its earlier growth forecast to 2-point-9 percent for 2018 due to rising economic uncertainties at home and abroad.
Here's our Kim Hye-sung with more.
The Bank of Korea on Thursday kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at one-point-five percent for July.
For a fifth straight monetary policy meeting, the central bank opted to stand pat,.... after raising its key rate by a quarter-of-a-percentage point last November -- the first hike in over six years.
The decision comes amid concerns over the sluggish domestic labor market and the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China.
South Korea's consumer price index gained one-point-five percent in June, same as the previous month, and lower than the central bank's two percent target.
New job additions in the country remained at the 100-thousand range for the fifth consecutive month in June.
Between January and June, a monthly average of 142-thousand new jobs were added, marking the slowest growth since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Trade friction between Washington and Beijing, South Korea's top two trading partners, adds extra uncertainty.
The Trump administration is pushing ahead with plans to impose tariffs on an additional 200 billion U.S. dollars of Chinese goods after Beijing retaliated against U.S. tariffs that went into effect last week.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.
Here's our Kim Hye-sung with more.
The Bank of Korea on Thursday kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at one-point-five percent for July.
For a fifth straight monetary policy meeting, the central bank opted to stand pat,.... after raising its key rate by a quarter-of-a-percentage point last November -- the first hike in over six years.
The decision comes amid concerns over the sluggish domestic labor market and the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China.
South Korea's consumer price index gained one-point-five percent in June, same as the previous month, and lower than the central bank's two percent target.
New job additions in the country remained at the 100-thousand range for the fifth consecutive month in June.
Between January and June, a monthly average of 142-thousand new jobs were added, marking the slowest growth since the 2008 global financial crisis.
Trade friction between Washington and Beijing, South Korea's top two trading partners, adds extra uncertainty.
The Trump administration is pushing ahead with plans to impose tariffs on an additional 200 billion U.S. dollars of Chinese goods after Beijing retaliated against U.S. tariffs that went into effect last week.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.