Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol hits the gavel at the start of a monetary policy board meeting in Seoul on Oct. 14, 2020.
The Bank of Korea has kept its policy rate at a record low 0.5 percent as it continues to assess the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the South Korean economy.
The BOK's monetary policy board on Wednesday stood pat on the benchmark seven-day repo rate for the third straight time, as widely expected.
To try and bolster the economy, the bank slashed the key rate to its all-time low in May, after delivering an emergency rate cut of half a percentage point in March.
In August, the BOK revised down its 2020 growth outlook to a sharper-than-expected contraction of 1.3 percent, citing the impact of a COVID-19 resurgence.
In the worst scenario, in which another wave of infections hits in the winter, it forecast the domestic economy to retreat 2.2 percent.
But analysts point out that economic uncertainty has increased despite the latest slowdown in virus cases, while booms in asset markets, including the housing and stock markets, should be closely monitored.
Overall, the central bank is expected to keep its current policy stance until at least the first half of next year as it will take time for the economy to return to pre-pandemic levels.
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