South Korea's central bank turns more cautious, indicates no rush to cut

SEOUL: South Korea's central bank said on Friday greater uncertainty on the inflation outlook and the strength of exports argued against a near term push to cut interest rates after the bank left the policy rate steady at a 15-year high.

"To give a six-month ahead outlook or so, all of the board members including myself deem it's difficult to make a call on the possibility of a rate cut for the second half," Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong said in a post-policy news conference after keeping its key rate at 3.50%, as expected by all 39 analysts polled by Reuters.