outlook for economic growth
The Bank of Korea is standing pat on its policy rate for now, despite growing calls for a cut to try and buffer some of the fallout expected from the coronavirus outbreak.
The central bank on Thursday decided to leave the base rate frozen at the current 1.25 percent, maintaining its wait-and-see approach.
It has held the policy rate at the record low level since last October amid signs of economic recovery.
However, the BOK policy board cut its growth outlook for this year to 2.1 percent from 2.3 percent, highlighting the negative impact of the fast-spreading COVID-19 outbreak that originated in China.
BOK Governor Lee Ju-yeol noted COVID-19 fallout will likely be greater than previous epidemics, but said for now, microeconomic or industry-specific support may be more useful than a base rate reduction.
He explained the latest policy decision and downward growth revision are based on the view that the outbreak will not last long and its negative impacts will be short-lived.■
<Image: Yonhap News>
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