BOK Implements Back-to-Back Rate Hikes, Raises Base Rate to 3.0%

The Bank of Korea held a Monetary Policy Board meeting today (the 27th) and decided to raise the base rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.0%.

This follows a 0.25 percentage point hike last month—the first in three years and six months since January 2023—marking a consecutive "back-to-back" rate increase.

Key factors behind the rate hike include second-quarter real gross domestic product growing 0.6% from the previous quarter, exceeding forecasts, along with real gross domestic income (GDI) increasing by 3.6% over the same period.

Additionally, core inflation last month rose 2.6% compared to the same month last year, marking the largest increase in two years and seven months.

Previously, BOK Governor Rhee Chang-yong remarked regarding the second-quarter real GDP growth rate and July core inflation rate right after last month's base rate hike, "We will watch closely."

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