A man works on a tree at Myeongdong shopping district in Seoul, South Korea, November 30, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
October 16, 2019
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s central bank cut its policy interest rate for the second time in three months on Wednesday, as expected, to support a slowing economy and address mounting deflationary pressures.
The Bank of Korea’s monetary policy board trimmed the base rate <KROCRT=ECI> by 25 basis points to 1.25%, a media department official said. BOK Governor Lee Ju-yeol is due to hold a news conference from 0220 GMT.
The rate cut follows a July easing and was in line with forecasts in a Reuters survey of 31 analysts. The new rate matches a record low seen until late 2017.
(Reporting by Choonsik Yoo and Joori Roh; Editing by Sam Holmes)
