1st LD: S. Korea's central bank keeps interest rate at 1.5 pct
Xinhua,April 12, 2018 Adjust font size:
SEOUL, April 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's central bank on Thursday froze its benchmark interest rate at 1.5 percent.
Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol and six other policy board members decided to leave the seven-day repurchase rate unchanged at 1.5 percent.
The bank raised the rate by 25 basis points in November last year to the current level, marking the first rate increase in almost six and a half years.
The rate freeze was in line with market expectations. According to a Korea Financial Investment Association (KFIA) poll of 200 fixed-income experts, 89 percent of them predicted the rate put on hold. Enditem