S.Korea cuts 2020 GDP outlook

Governor Lee Ju-yeol said monetary policy needed to be “actively” used if the downturn worsened, reiterating the central bank was open to more rate cuts and was willing to expand the use of other monetary tools.

SEOUL: South Korea’s central bank kept interest rates steady on Thursday, but sharply downgraded its 2020 growth outlook and kept the door open for more monetary stimulus to support an economy hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bank of Korea kept the seven-day repurchase rate at a record low of 0.5%, in an unanimous and widely expected decision, after 75 basis points of rate cuts this year.