S. Korea's April import prices log 1st fall in 20 months

SEOUL, May 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's import prices declined for the first time
in 20 months in April due to pullbacks in oil prices and slumping demand, the
central bank said Sunday.
Import prices in local currency terms fell 1.8 percent last month from a year
earlier, a turnaround from the previous month's on-year gain of 10.6 percent,
according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The April figure marked the first drop since August 2007, when prices fell 0.7
percent.
Compared with a month earlier, import prices shed 7.8 percent in April, marking
the largest monthly fall since April 1998 when such prices declined 9.1 percent,
it added.
"Although the Korean currency weakened to the dollar from a year earlier,
declines in raw material prices and sluggish demand prompted import prices to
fall on-year," an official at the BOK said.
Raw material prices nose-dived 21.8 percent on-year in April, the steepest fall
since a 23.3 percent fall in November 2001. Prices declined 10.7 percent in
March.
Oil prices have been sliding since they peaked at US$147 per barrel in July last
year. South Korea, the world's fifth-largest crude buyer, relies entirely on
imports for its oil needs.
On Tuesday, the BOK froze its key interest rate at a record low of 2 percent for
the third straight month, saying the economy's sharp decline has clearly eased.
It had made six consecutive rate cuts totaling 3.25 percentage points until
February.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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