South Korea's consumer inflation slowed for a second month in September, data showed on Wednesday, but economists said the data would do little to change the central bank's tightening bias amid growing talk it could opt for a bigger hike next week.
Economists said the latest data suggested inflation was at or past its peak, but expected the central bank to stick to its stance given the weakening won and an aggressive monetary policy in the United States.
"I think overall inflation pressures have already past their peak in South Korea, but the Bank of Korea is not making policy decisions only on inflation numbers but has to consider the U.S. policy and the foreign exchange rate," said Moon Hong-cheol, economist at DB Financial Investment. The Bank of Korea has raised its policy interest rate by a total of 2.0 percentage points since August last year from record-low 0.5% to fight inflation and Governor Rhee Chang-yong has said tightening stance would continue for the time being.The Bank of Korea affirmed at an internal meeting on Wednesday its previous view that, listing the won and global oil prices as the main possible drivers of future inflation.
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