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HIGHLIGHTS-S.Korea central bank chief comments after rate pause
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HIGHLIGHTS-S.Korea central bank chief comments after rate pause
Reuters - Thursday, March 12
* For the full story on the rate decision, see [ID:nSEO73756]
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* For the governor's previous remarks, see [ID:nSEO275931]
* For analysts' reaction, see [ID:nSEO330954]
SEOUL, March 12 - South Korea's central bank left interest rates unchanged at a record low of 2.00 percent on Thursday, pausing after an unprecedented six straight cuts and suggesting some unease over the weakness of the won.
Analysts had been split on whether the central bank would cut rates again or leave them unchanged, with views divided between the need to support the struggling economy and jitters over the won, which has fallen sharply during the global financial crisis.
The Bank of Korea has slashed the base rate by a total of 3.25 percentage points since early October, including a historic 1 percentage point reduction in December.
Following are highlights of remarks by Bank of Korea Governor Lee Seong-tae at a news conference, translated by Reuters:
ON RATE POLICY
"Future policy will be focused on preventing the economy from shrinking too sharply and promoting the stability of the financial market."
"We have slashed the base rate very sharply since October, so we want to assess the effect of previous rate cuts on the financial market."
"We're observing the past rapid rate cuts since October have begun to impact the financial market."
"Of course we consider such elements as movements in the foreign exchange market and the changing economic situation, and reflect them ."
ON ECONOMY
"Many people are now projecting a prolonged economic slump. Almost all the economies in the world have been moving in the same direction since the fourth quarter of last year. The global economic trend should tell when our economy will hit the bottom and begin to recover."
"This economic slump will likely go deep and long, beyond the expectations we made last November and December. Job market conditions are tightening and investment sentiment is quite fragile. Exports are expected to continue to post a considerable drop for the time being. The downside risk to the economic growth has been growing to a significant level."
"With imports declining fast and service account seeing smaller deficits, the current account is expected to post a sizable surplus both in February and March. For the entire year, we expect a surplus ."
INFLATION
"Although the won's fall put upward pressure on prices, the overall conditions, including weak domestic demand and cheaper raw materials, point to inflation stabilising over time."
"The consumer price index rebounded with a 4.1 percent gain in February after easing steadily since last July, largely due to the won's decline."
ON FINANCIAL MARKETS
"Banks have turned more willing to lend on the back of the government's credit guarantees, as seen in the modest increase in the household and SME lending in February."
"Money market rates, such as yields of corporate bonds and commercial papers, have been falling significantly, along with banks' savings and lending rates."
ON EXTRA BUDGET
"We understand much of the planned extra budget will be financed by bonds. Our basic role is to ensure the financial markets function and to support the real economy."
" will play the coordinator's role behind the scenes when a huge amount of government bond issuances affect the overall bond market."
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