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☆ S.Korea's accelerating inflation set to keep policy restrictive for longer
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Jihoon Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Office workers pick up lunch boxes at a convenience store in Seoul, South Korea, June 24, 2022. REUTERS/ Heo Ran/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSEOUL, Oct 5 (Reuters) - South Korea's consumer inflation accelerated for a second month in September, above market expectations, official data showed on Thursday, supporting prospects of the central bank maintaining its restrictive policy for some time. Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said after the data release that inflation would likely stabilise again from October with seasonal factors easing. The central bank also said inflation, which was slightly higher in September than its projection, would still ease to around 3% by the end of the year. Broken down by sector, prices of petroleum products jumped 4.0% over the month, agricultural prices climbed 4.1%, while public utility prices added 5.3%.

Persons: Heo, Choo Kyung, Ahn Jae, Jihoon Lee, Ed Davies, Tom Hogue Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Shinhan Securities, of Korea, Statistics, CPI, Thomson Locations: Seoul, South Korea, Rights SEOUL, Statistics Korea

☆ South Korean inflation cools to 19-month low, core remains higher
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Jihoon Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FILE PHOTO: Office workers pick up lunch boxes at a convenience store in Seoul, South Korea, June 24, 2022. However, the central bank said the inflation outlook was highly uncertain, citing risks from global oil prices, economic growth and public utility price increases. By product, agricultural prices rose 0.5% in May month-on-month, while utility prices jumped 2.2%. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 3.9% in May on-year, the slowest increase in 10 months. But it was the second straight month that the core rate stayed above the headline rate, following its 4.0% rise in the previous month.

Persons: Heo, ”, Ahn Jae Organizations: REUTERS, Statistics, Petroleum, Shinhan Securities, The Bank, CPI Locations: SEOUL, Seoul, South Korea, Statistics Korea, Korea

☆ South Korea's slowest inflation in 10 months bolsters views for no more hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

South Korea's consumer inflation for February hit its slowest pace in 10 months, bolstering views that the central bank is done with its current policy tightening cycle after it held rates steady last month. The consumer price index rose 4.8% in February from a year before, Statistics Korea data showed on Monday, easing from January's 5.2%. It was below the 5.1% tipped in a Reuters poll, and was also the lowest rate since April 2022. "It was encouraging that the rising pace of private service prices slowed, lowering the possibility of additional rate hikes by the central bank, at least on the domestic side," said Ahn Jae-kyun, a fixed-income analyst at Shinhan Securities. Annual core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, inched down to 4.0%, from 4.1% a month before, and hit the lowest since August, suggesting easing underlying price pressure.

☆ S.Korea inflation slowest in 10 months, bolsters views for no more hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Jihoon Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The consumer price index rose 4.8% in February from a year before, Statistics Korea data showed on Monday, easing from January's 5.2%. By product category, prices of livestock products fell 3.2% from the previous month and petroleum products slid 1.3%, dragging the inflation rate lower. The inflation index rose 0.3% on a monthly basis, compared with 0.8% in the previous month and 0.5% expected by economists. The BOK held interest rates steady last month, after a year of uninterrupted hikes, and said the monetary tightening campaign would not resume if inflation followed an expected path towards moderation. Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho separately said that the inflation slowdown would become clearer going forward, unless there were an external shock.

☆ South Korea Jan inflation ticks up, leaves policy outlook steady
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jihoon Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The annual rate of price rises was the highest since October, when it was 5.7%. Temporary effects that had pushed up inflation included a lift in electricity charges, unfavourable weather for vegetables and a strong round of regular annual price rises, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. A breakdown of the data showed January public utility costs had risen 4.6% from the previous month while agricultural products had jumped 6.2%, leading the index higher. The Bank of Korea said in a separate statement that the tick-up in the inflation rate was in line with its expectations. The annual rate would be just as high in February, around 5%, it said.

"Samsung, in a roundabout way, is saying production will decrease slightly," said analyst Kim Yang-jae at Daol Investment and Securities. CHIP PROFIT TUMBLESEarlier on Tuesday, Samsung reported its lowest quarterly profit since 2014 and said persistent macroeconomic uncertainty will make for a tough first half of this year, though it expects demand to start recovering in the second half. At 4.3 trillion won ($3.49 billion), October-December operating profit was Samsung's lowest quarterly profit in eight years. Some analysts expect the chip business to book a loss in the first quarter, pulling overall profit below that of the fourth. In mobile, Samsung said fourth-quarter profit fell to 1.7 trillion won from 2.66 trillion won a year earlier, as a decline in low- and mid-end smartphone sales was greater than expected.

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