SEOUL (Reuters) – Monetary policy board members of the South Korean central bank kept the door open for further rate hikes at their review in August, but they also flagged increased risks to economic growth, according to meeting minutes released on Tuesday.
“With respect to the monetary policy direction going forward, the Board would have to adjust the extent of policy tightening through further rate hikes, if necessary,” one member said.
In the minutes, three out of six board members explicitly mentioned an additional rate hike. One said it was the time to monitor the effects of the high interest rate policy, while another said the trade-off among policy objectives had grown.
One board member said: “it would be important to thoroughly assess the direction and scale of any additional adjustments to interest rates.”
At the Aug.
24 review, the Bank of Korea held interest rates steady for a fifth straight meeting in a balance between softer inflation and heightened risks to economic growth, with a slight cut to its growth forecast for 2024.
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
