Monetary Policy Board Raises Base Interest Rate by 0.25% to an Annual 1.25%

[경향신문]

- Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol presides over a meeting of the Monetary Policy Board at the Bank of Korea in Jung-gu, Seoul on the morning of January 14. Courtesy of the Bank of Korea

The Bank of Korea Monetary Policy Board raised the base rate 0.25%.

The Board held a meeting at the Bank of Korea in Jung-gu, Seoul on January 14 and decided to raise the interest rate 0.25%, from an annual 1.0% to 1.25%. The decision came two months after the Monetary Policy Board announced its determination to restore monetary policies to pre-covid levels and raised the base rate by 0.25% each last August and November. The Board had lowered the interest rate by 0.5% and 0.25% last March and May respectively, after the economy quickly froze in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. The low rate was maintained for some time, until the Board raised it by 0.25% each last August and November.

This day, the Monetary Policy Board seems to have raised the base rate after taking into consideration the higher need to respond to inflation, after consumer prices rose at a rate that exceeded predictions, and the likelihood of the U.S. Federal Reserve raising the interest rate sooner than expected.