SEOUL: Bank of Korea (BOK), South Korea’s central bank, on Thursday froze interest rates at a record low of 1.5 percent for five straight months. BOK Governor Lee Ju-Yeol and six other policy board members decided to keep the benchmark 7-day repurchase rate on hold at 1.5 percent, refraining from altering the rate since July, reported Xinhua.
The central bank cut its policy rate by 25 basis points in August and October last year each, before lowering it by a quarter percentage point further in March and June this year. The November rate-freeze decision was in line with market consensus. According to a Korea Financial Investment Association survey of 111 fixed-income experts, 96.4 percent of respondents predicted the rate on hold.
