Overview
- Headline consumer prices rose 2.4% from a year earlier in November, staying above the Bank of Korea’s 2% target for a third straight month.
- Prices of agricultural, livestock and fishery goods climbed 5.6% year on year, while petroleum products rose 5.9% as a weaker won and reduced fuel tax relief amplified costs.
- The Bank of Korea kept its policy rate at 2.50% for a fourth consecutive meeting as currency weakness curtailed scope for further easing.
- Core inflation readings diverged across reports, with one measure at 2.0% year on year and the ministry’s preferred gauge at 2.9%.
- On a monthly basis CPI fell 0.2%, and the finance minister linked persistently high processed food prices to frequent rain and the won’s declines, with analysts now expecting one more rate cut in the first quarter.