South Korea’s economy shrank for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic last quarter, an outcome that supports the view the central bank is likely done with interest rate hikes for now. Gross domestic product contracted 0.4 percent from the previous three months as exports fell and consumer…
South Korea’s economy shrank for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic last quarter, an outcome that supports the case for at least pausing a cycle of interest rate hikes to tackle inflation.
A potent mix of status seekers, cashed up homeowners and YOLO-ing (you only live once) millennials has combined to make South Koreans the world’s biggest per-capita spenders on luxury brands.
Higher-than-expected inflation in the United States is putting pressure on the Bank of Korea (BOK) to take another “big step” by raising the key interest rate by a half percentage point in the next meeting of its monetary policy board scheduled for Oct. 12. The BOK took an unprecedented “big step” in June but is still applying incremental rate increases, as addressed by its governor Rhee Chang-yong, who recently described the increases as an anti-inflationary measure as well as a long-term response toward hawkish U.S. monetary policy.