The Bank of Korea (BOK) stated today (August 4) that "the consumer price inflation rate for August is expected to be higher than that of July, largely influenced by the base effect stemming from large-scale mobile carrier subscription fee discounts implemented last year."

Lee Ji-ho, Assistant Governor of the BOK, made the remarks while presiding over a price inspection meeting held at the BOK this morning, noting that "consumer price inflation in July slowed down compared to June due to the reduction of upper limits on petroleum prices and falling agricultural product prices."

Regarding the July inflation indicators, he analyzed that "the living cost inflation rate, which carries a high weight in petroleum and agricultural, livestock, and fishery products, dropped significantly to 2.5%," while adding that "core inflation saw a slight expansion in its increase rate as durable goods prices rose faster due to the transmission of cost shocks."

Assistant Governor Lee projected that "looking ahead, consumer prices will face high uncertainty related to the war in the Middle East, while the government's price stability measures will act as a downward pressure factor."

He added, "As core items are expected to continue high inflation rates due to the transmission of cost shocks and expanding demand-side pressures, we will monitor the inflation situation with vigilance."

The Korea National Statistical Office announced earlier in the day that the consumer price index for July stood at 119.77 (2020=100), marking a 2.8% increase compared to a year ago.

After rising from 2.6% in April to 3.1% in May and 3.2% in June, inflation fell back to the 2% range for the first time in three months.

The OECD-standard core inflation index, which excludes food and energy, rose by 2.6%.

This marked the largest increase since December 2023 (2.8%).

(Photo: Yonhap News)