South Korea consumer inflation slows to 10-month low

SEOUL: South Korea’s particular person inflation slowed for a second straight month in Could perhaps to a 10-month low, official recordsdata showed on Tuesday (Jun 4), coming in decrease than market expectations.

The actual person designate index (CPI) in Could perhaps stood 2.7 per cent greater than a yr earlier, slower than a rise of 2.9 per cent in April and a produce of 2.8 per cent tipped in a Reuters detect of economists. It changed into the slowest annual elevate since July.

The index rose 0.1 per cent on a month-to-month basis, in step with Statistics Korea, after no alternate in April and when compared with a 0.2 per cent rise anticipated by economists.

By product, costs of agricultural merchandise fell 2.5 per cent over the month, nonetheless petroleum merchandise rose 0.3 per cent and non-public provider costs won 0.4 per cent.

“Inflation is anticipated to stabilise within the decrease to mid-2 per cent differ within the second half of,” Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said, vowing to lengthen tariff cuts on food ingredients and refrain from raising public utility costs to stabilise inflation.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) said particular person inflation would probably proceed to ease gradually, as projected in Could perhaps, on the assorted hand it desired to reflect whether or not inflation converges on the central monetary institution’s blueprint of 2 per cent.

Last month, the central monetary institution said inflation would probably be on a decelerating pattern all yr long no subject stronger economic thunder, on legend of domestic quiz changed into seen getting higher entirely modestly.

The BOK, which held hobby charges fresh for an 11th straight meeting in Could perhaps, is anticipated to decrease its protection price by 50 basis facets to three.0 per cent within the fourth quarter of 2024, in step with a Reuters poll in Could perhaps.

Core CPI, rather than volatile food and vitality objects, rose 2.2 per cent yr-on-yr, slowing from a 2.3 per cent rise within the old month and marking the slowest elevate since December 2021.