South Korea’s February inflation eases as COVID-19 impacts demand

SEOUL- South Korea’s February consumer inflation was monitored to be on a slow note mainly from dwindling demand brought by the coronavirus contagion and fluctuating oil prices, official records disclosed on Tuesday. The slow inflation indicated that there is an immediate need for interest cuts in order to solve consumption and growth problems.

According to Statistics Korea, the consumer price index advanced 1.1% in February but fell marginally lower from 1.5% jump in January. Compared to January record, the index stayed the same after climbing up to 0.6% in January.

The central bank retained the 2020 inflation prediction at 1.0%, under the bank’s point of 2.0% mark, when it decided to keep its policy rate the same the previous week. In addition to this, it also assessed possible threats from the novel coronavirus.