SOUTH Korea’s consumer inflation eased in April for the first time in three months, official data showed on Thursday, coming in lower than market expectations.

The consumer price index stood 2.9 per cent higher than the same month the year before, compared with a rise of 3.1 per cent in March and a 3.0 per cent gain tipped in a Reuters survey of economists.

It was the slowest annual rate since January, according to Statistics Korea.

The index was flat on a monthly basis, after rising 0.1 per cent in March, while economists had expected a median 0.15 per cent rise. REUTERS