Bank of Korea freezes key rate for 12th month in Feb.

By Kim Soo-yeon
SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's central bank froze its key interest rate
for the 12th straight month on Thursday as uncertainty about the pace of an
economic recovery lingers amid heightened global market jitters.

In a monthly policy meeting, the Bank of Korea (BOK) froze the benchmark
seven-day repo rate, dubbed the base rate, at a record low of 2 percent. It cut
the rate by a total of 3.25 percentage points between October 2008 and February
2009 in a bid to bolster the slumping economy.
The decision is in line with a forecast by 13 economists at 15 financial
institutions polled by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News
Agency. Two experts forecast a rate hike.
"Euro-zone debt fears increased jitters in global markets and South Korea's
economic growth and inflation have yet to be strong enough to warrant a rate
hike," said Im No-jung, an economist at Solomon Investment & Securities Co.
South Korea's economy has been on a recovery track, but its growth slowed down in
the fourth quarter as exports and private spending declined and fiscal spending
waned. Asia's fourth-largest economy expanded 0.2 percent on-quarter in the final
quarter of 2009, sharply slowing from a 3.2 percent gain in the third quarter.
Analysts said concerns about snowballing bud