S. Korea`s import price growth hits 13-month low in Jan.

SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's import prices grew at the slowest pace
in 13 months in January due to retreats in oil prices and slumping demand, the
central bank said Sunday.
Import prices in local currency terms climbed 16.7 percent in January from a year
earlier, compared with a 22.4 percent on-year gain the previous month, according
to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The January figure marked the slowest growth since a 15.6 percent advance in
December 2007. The country's import prices climbed 50.5 percent on-year in July,
hitting a 10-year high.
Import prices fell 1.8 percent on-month in January, marking the third straight
monthly fall, the BOK added.
"In January, the on-year growth of import prices slowed mainly because raw
material costs declined," said Lee Byung-doo, an official at the BOK.
Raw materials prices fell 3.5 percent on-year in January, marking the first
decline since August 2007 when such prices dipped 2.2 percent.
Oil prices have been sliding since they peaked at US$147 per barrel in July.
South Korea, the world's fifth-largest crude buyer, relies entirely on imports
for its oil needs.
On Thursday, the BOK cut its key interest rate by half a percentage point to a
fresh record low of 2 percent, the sixth cut in four months, in an attempt to
jumpstart the sputtering economy. Since October, the BOK has trimmed the rate by
3.25 percentage points.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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