(Corrects milestone in paragraph 3)
By Cynthia Kim and Jihoon Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s central financial institution lower benchmark rates of interest for a second straight assembly on Thursday in a shock transfer because the economic system stalled and inflation slowed greater than policymakers predicted.
The Financial institution of Korea (BOK) lowered its benchmark rate of interest by 1 / 4 proportion level to three.00% at its financial coverage evaluate, an consequence solely 4 of 38 economists polled by Reuters foresaw. All others anticipated the financial institution to maintain charges unchanged.
It was the primary back-to-back lower since early 2009 as policymakers sought to revive the economic system now that inflation is beneath management.
The BOK downgraded forecasts for each progress and inflation this yr.
It lower 2024 progress forecast to 2.2% from 2.4% beforehand. For subsequent yr it sees the economic system increasing 1.9%, weaker than its 2.1% outlook earlier than.
It now sees shopper inflation at 2.3% for this yr, slower than 2.5% seen beforehand.
South Korea’s policy-sensitive three-year treasury bond futures rose as a lot as 0.23 factors to 106.64 after the speed choice, whereas the received weakened.
The BOK adopted a neutral-to-dovish stance in direction of coverage in October, when it made its first rate of interest lower in additional than 4 years as demand softened.
Governor Rhee Chang-yong holds a information convention at round 0210 GMT, which will likely be livestreamed by way of YouTube.
