BoK opens door to rate cuts as growth risks rise

Shifting landscape: Rhee at a news conference in Seoul. Four of the BoK’s seven voting members are open to a rate cut within the next three months. — Bloomberg

SEOUL: South Korea’s central bank has kept interest rates unchanged but revived expectations for an imminent policy easing that some economists see happening as soon as October as growth concerns overshadow inflation worries.

The Bank of Korea (BoK) held the benchmark interest rate at 3.5% in a unanimous decision yesterday, an outcome expected by 38 out of 40 economists surveyed by Reuters.