Inflation in South Korea accelerated in February, beating economists’ expectations, after three months of slowing, official data showed on Wednesday. The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 3.1% in February yoy, compared with the 2.8% level in January and the 2.9% result expected by economists.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose by 0.5% after a rise of 0.4% in the previous month. This is the most serious increase since September, South Korea’s statistics office said.
Central bankers said inflation could be volatile in February and March but was expected to stabilize thereafter.
“We expect inflation to continue to moderate, unless oil prices rise sharply, amid weak demand pressures, but the trend will be bumpy rather than smooth as the cost of living will remain high for some time to come”, commented the South Korea’s central bank after the data was released.
Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said the government will make efforts to slow inflation to below 3% by planning measures to stabilize agricultural product prices and by closely monitoring the oil trend.
South Korea’s central bank last month left interest rates on hold for a ninth straight meeting while trying to dampen investor expectations for monetary easing as inflation remains above the central bank’s 2% target.
The core measure, which excludes volatile components such as food and energy sources, remained at the 2.5% level reported in January.
