ID :
49712
Tue, 03/10/2009 - 04:18
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/49712
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea's producer price growth hits 13-month low in Feb.
SEOUL, March 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korean producer prices grew at the slowest clip in 13 months in February due to retreats in oil prices and slumping demand, the central bank said Monday.
The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, increased 4.4
percent in February from a year earlier, moderating from a 4.7 percent on-year
advance the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marks the
slowest growth since a 4.2 percent annual gain in January 2008.
Annual growth in producer prices has been on a downward trend for seven straight
months since hitting a 10-year high in July last year on soaring oil costs, it
added.
But the country's producer prices rose 0.6 percent on-month in February, a
turnaround from a 0.3 percent fall the previous month due mainly to the local
currency's weakness, it added.
"Producer prices rebounded in February compared with a month earlier as the won
lost against the U.S. dollar and production of petrochemical goods decreased due
to slumping demand," said Lee Byung-doo, an official at the BOK.
The Korean currency fell 10.1 percent to the greenback last month alone, with its
value dipping 18.7 percent so far this year amid jitters of a dollar shortage.
Experts say a rebound in producer prices gave little comfort to policymakers at a
time when the country's consumer prices unexpectedly rose 4.1 percent last month,
marking the first upturn in seven months. A weaker won against the greenback puts
upward pressure on inflation as it makes imports more expensive.
The data came three days before the BOK calls its monthly rate-setting meeting.
Since October, the BOK has slashed its key interest rate by a total of 3.25
percentage points to a record low of 2 percent in a bid to prop up the sharply
slowing economy.
Economists say the BOK is widely expected to cut the rate by a quarter percentage
point in an attempt to jumpstart the sagging economy and to leave itself room to
maneuver in coping with further economic deterioration. But some analysts caution
that the bank may freeze the rate this week due to a weaker won and an upturn in
consumer prices.
The South Korean economy, Asia's fourth-largest, shrank 5.6 percent last quarter
from three months earlier, the sharpest fall since the Asian financial crisis a
decade ago, due to tumbling exports and weak domestic demand. The economy is
widely expected to shrink this year, with Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun
predicting a 2 percent contraction.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, increased 4.4
percent in February from a year earlier, moderating from a 4.7 percent on-year
advance the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marks the
slowest growth since a 4.2 percent annual gain in January 2008.
Annual growth in producer prices has been on a downward trend for seven straight
months since hitting a 10-year high in July last year on soaring oil costs, it
added.
But the country's producer prices rose 0.6 percent on-month in February, a
turnaround from a 0.3 percent fall the previous month due mainly to the local
currency's weakness, it added.
"Producer prices rebounded in February compared with a month earlier as the won
lost against the U.S. dollar and production of petrochemical goods decreased due
to slumping demand," said Lee Byung-doo, an official at the BOK.
The Korean currency fell 10.1 percent to the greenback last month alone, with its
value dipping 18.7 percent so far this year amid jitters of a dollar shortage.
Experts say a rebound in producer prices gave little comfort to policymakers at a
time when the country's consumer prices unexpectedly rose 4.1 percent last month,
marking the first upturn in seven months. A weaker won against the greenback puts
upward pressure on inflation as it makes imports more expensive.
The data came three days before the BOK calls its monthly rate-setting meeting.
Since October, the BOK has slashed its key interest rate by a total of 3.25
percentage points to a record low of 2 percent in a bid to prop up the sharply
slowing economy.
Economists say the BOK is widely expected to cut the rate by a quarter percentage
point in an attempt to jumpstart the sagging economy and to leave itself room to
maneuver in coping with further economic deterioration. But some analysts caution
that the bank may freeze the rate this week due to a weaker won and an upturn in
consumer prices.
The South Korean economy, Asia's fourth-largest, shrank 5.6 percent last quarter
from three months earlier, the sharpest fall since the Asian financial crisis a
decade ago, due to tumbling exports and weak domestic demand. The economy is
widely expected to shrink this year, with Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun
predicting a 2 percent contraction.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
