South Korea inflation at nine-year high

Revised upward: A worker arranges vegetables at a supermarket in Seoul. The BoK pushed up its inflation projection for 2021 to 2.1% from 1.8% previously, and sees it standing at 1.5% for the whole of 2022. — Bloomberg

SEOUL: South Korea’s August consumer inflation stayed at a nine-year peak, raising the chances the central bank will hike rates again this year as strong demand adds to price pressures.

Consumer prices in August rose 2.6% from a year earlier, Statistics Korea said yesterday, matching the rate in July, driven by a spike in fresh food prices due to a heat wave and high cost of oil products, housing rental and other services.