12.05.201122:10:00UTC+00Bank Of Korea Holds Rates At 3.00%

The members of the Bank of Korea monetary policy board on Friday voted to keep interest rates unchanged at the current level of 3.00 percent, surprising analysts who had widely expected a 25-basis-point hike.

The central bank also held off on any action at the previous meeting in April. It had hiked rates by 25 basis points from 2.75 percent in March.

The move followed a decline in consumer and producer prices.

CPI came down to 4.2 percent in April from the 29-month high of 4.7 percent in March - but inflation still remains outside the central bank's target range of 3 to 4 percent.

Producer prices came down from the 28-month high of 7.3 percent in March to 6.8 percent - but they too remain uncomfortably high, sparking speculation for a rate increase.

Before raising rates by 25 basis points on November 15 to 2.50 percent, the bank had left rates unchanged since it unexpectedly raised rates by 25 basis points from the record low of 2.00 percent on July 9.

Before that, the rate had held steady for 16 straight months, after the bank had trimmed rates six times in the previous four months.