SEOUL : South Korea’s consumer inflation ticked up in January to a three-month high, against economists’ expectations, official data showed on Thursday.
The consumer price index was 5.2 per cent higher in January than in the same month a year before, rising faster than the 5.0 per cent rate seen in December, according to Statistics Korea. Economists had expected the pace of growth to stay steady at 5.0 per cent.
The index was 0.8 per cent higher than in December, when the monthly rise was 0.2 per cent. A 0.5 per cent increase from December was tipped in a Reuters poll.
By product category, public utility costs rose 4.6 per cent from the previous month while agricultural products jumped 6.2 per cent, leading the index higher. Petroleum products fell 2.8 per cent.
The core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was up 4.1 per cent in January on a year earlier, the same as in December, when annual core inflation eased for the first time in 13 months.
At their policy meeting on Jan. 13, most of the Bank of Korea’s board members were seen turning cautious about additional interest rate hikes, though the board voted on that day to raise rates by 25 basis points to 3.50 per cent. Meeting minutes were released two days ago.
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