The consumer price index was 4.2% higher in March than a year earlier, compared with gains of 4.8% in February and a 4.3% forecast in a Reuters survey. It was the slowest annual rise since March 2022.
The index rose 0.2% on a monthly basis, after a 0.3% gain in the previous month, according to the Statistics Korea. It matched economists’ expectation for a 0.2% rise.
The softening comes as worries about the global banking sector and local economic prospects have prompted investors to increase their bets that the South Korean central bank’s tightening cycle is over.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) said after the data release that inflation is likely to ease further, but remain higher than the central bank’s 2% target throughout the year, while core inflation would cool at a slower pace.
The BOK said there was heightened uncertainty over global energy prices, world and domestic economic trends, and public cost increases.
Saudi Arabia and other…
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