South Korea 2025 consumer inflation roughly in line with central bank target

[SEOUL] South Korea’s consumer inflation for 2025 slowed to 2.1 per cent from 2.3 per cent in 2024, official data showed on Wednesday, roughly in line with the Bank of Korea’s target of 2 per cent to potentially bolster the case for the bank to pause interest rates at the current level for longer.

The Bank of Korea on Nov 27 kept interest rates unchanged at 2.50 per cent for a fourth straight meeting and signalled the bank could be nearing the end of its current rate cut cycle.

For December, the consumer price index rose 2.3 per cent from a year earlier, also in line with median forecasts of 2.30 per cent.

The index increased 0.3 per cent on a monthly basis, compared with a 0.2 per cent rise expected by economists. REUTERS