South Korea's August inflation stays at 9-year peak, beats forecast

[SEOUL] South Korea's consumer prices rose 2.6 per cent in August from a year earlier, government data showed on Thursday, unchanged from a month earlier but beating a 2.3 per cent increase tipped in a Reuters survey.

It was the same as a 2.6 per cent rise seen in May and July, when inflation marked the fastest pace since April 2012, and continued to stay above the central bank's 2 per cent target for a fifth straight month.

Month-on-month inflation rose 0.6 per cent, the best reading since January and also beating a forecast of a 0.3 per cent rise. It rose 0.2 per cent in July.

Meanwhile, core inflation rose 1.3 per cent year-on-year, marking the fastest growth since June 2018 and up from a 1.2 per cent rise in July.

REUTERS