SEOUL, May 28 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korea’s central bank, today cut its benchmark interest rate to a new record low of 0.50 percent, to tackle an economic fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak.
Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor, Lee Ju-yeol, and six monetary policy board members, decided to slash the seven-day repurchase rate by 25 basis points, to an all-time low of 0.75 percent.
The BOK lowered the key rate by 50 basis points in Mar, in its first emergency move, since the 2008 global financial crisis.
The rate cut decision was not in line with market expectations.
According to a Korea Financial Investment Association (KFIA) survey, of 200 fixed-income experts, 79 percent predicted a rate on hold.– NNN-YONHAP
