South Korea's inflation speeds up for first time in 7 months

Seoul

SOUTH Korea's annual inflation in May accelerated for the first time in seven months, but still-low price pressures give the central bank enough headroom to cut interest rates again to jump-start a tottering economy.

The consumer price index rose 0.5 per cent in May from a year earlier, Statistics Korea data showed on Tuesday, up from a 0.4 per cent increase in April. It was the first pick-up in annual terms since October 2014 and the fastest since February this year.