S.Korea c.bank cuts rates in first emergency policy move since 2008

SEOUL: The Bank of Korea on Monday took the emergency step of cutting the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points in a rare inter-meeting rate review, taking the policy rate below 1% for the first time in history to limit the fallout from the coronavirus.

The BOK has not made a cut through an emergency policy meeting since October 2008 when Asia's fourth largest economy was reeling from the global financial crisis, and the base rate, now at 0.75%, is the lowest since the bank adopted the current policy system in 1999.