October 7, 2004

The Bank of Korea

 

 

 

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Korea decided today to maintain the benchmark call rate (uncollateralized overnight rate) at its current level (3.5%) for the intermeeting period.

 

 

 

(An unofficial English translation based on the Korean original of the decision on monetary policy taken by the Monetary Policy Committee on October 7, 2004 is attached.)

 

 

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     In the real economy, private consumption remains sluggish, yet facilities investment shows a very modest recovery. The pace of export growth has declined to some extent. Meanwhile, the current account is still in surplus, mainly thanks to the surplus on the goods account.

 

 

 

    The core inflation rate has been increasing and consumer price inflation continues to show unstable movements, while upward pressure on prices may be mounting as high oil prices are anticipated to persist.

 

 

 

    In the financial markets, overall liquidity conditions have been favorable, yet fund-raising conditions have not improved for small- and medium-sized enterprises with low credit ratings.

 

 

 

    Taking the above economic and financial conditions into consideration, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Korea decided today to maintain the benchmark call rate (uncollateralized overnight rate) at its current level (3.5 percent) for the intermeeting period.