The Bank of Korea (BOK) yesterday kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged and said it intends to keep policy restrictive to combat inflation even with the economy set to slow more than previously expected this year.
The central bank held its seven-day repurchase rate at 3.5 percent, as forecast by economists. Unlike in February, the latest decision was unanimous, an outcome that points to growing concern among board members over the risks for the economy.
Still, Governor Rhee Chang-yong ruled out the possibility of a rate cut for now despite expectations among market players for a move in that direction later this year.
Photo: Bloomberg
“Many board members are thinking that market expectations may be excessive,” Rhee said at a briefing after the decision. “The majority opinion among the board is that the financial sector has excessively priced in expectations for monetary policy abroad.”
South Korea faces an awkward combination of slowing economic activity and continued high consumer price growth. That would likely keep the central bank standing pat as it monitors the situation, with the view that prices would probably cool sufficiently to avoid any more rate hikes.
While Rhee again indicated that five members of the board want to leave open the possibility of raising rates, the BOK is widely seen as having reached the end of a tightening cycle that began in August 2021.
“The central bank is likely to hold the policy rate at 3.5 percent for the rest of the year,” Moody’s Analytics economist Eric Chiang said after the briefing.
Reinforcing that view is an export slump that is set to weigh on South Korea’s economic growth. The country’s GDP shrank in the final quarter of last year and likely struggled in the first three months of this year.
GDP growth this year is likely to be slightly below February forecasts of 1.6 percent, the central bank said.
The BOK has also flagged the effects of recent financial turmoil.
“New uncertainties have emerged since the previous policy decision,” Rhee said, citing the banking jitters sparked by the failures at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Credit Suisse Group AG.
“SVB has thrown cold water on expectations for economic growth in not only the US and Europe but also in Korea,” Rhee said.
Last week, the central bank pointed to greater volatility in prices ahead after OPEC+ announced an oil production cut, even as domestic inflation slowed.
With domestic growth still weak, inflation easing, and the risks of a hawkish US Federal Reserve diminishing, the pressure on the BOK to hike rates is continuing to fade, said Khoon Goh (吳昆), head of Asia research at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group in Singapore.
“At the same time, with inflation expectations still elevated and uncertainties surrounding the pace of the inflation slowdown high, the central bank is likely to continue pushing back against expectations for a quick easing pivot,” he said.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
RSS