The U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark lending rate for a tenth consecutive time Wednesday in a move that could be the last in the current cycle if the economy cools suffici.
The Federal Reserve will likely need to raise interest rates more than expected in response to recent strong data and is prepared to move in larger steps if the
Fears of a widening interest rate gap between the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the U.S. Federal Reserve are rattling financial markets here after what appears to be a “prematurely dovish” decision by the BOK. The Korean central bank froze its key rate at 3.5 percent on Feb. 23 amid escalating recession fears and a real estate meltdown.
The Korean economy contracted 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the previous three months, with the twin engines of growth ― private spending and exports ― declining simultaneously amid a global economic slowdown, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Thursday. This marks the first time since the second quarter of 2020 that the Korean economy shrank. GDP contracted 3 percent back then amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 GDP growth came in at 2.6 percent, down 1.5 percentage points from a year ago when the Korean economy grew 4.1 percent.
Consumer prices here soared again in October for the first time in three months on public utility cost hikes despite a slowdown in external supply pull factors - such as oil and agricultural good prices - Statistics Korea said Wednesday. According to data from the authority, Korea s consumer prices rose by 5.7 percent from a year ago. The figure reached its peak at 6.3 percent in July, but slowed down for the next two months at 5.7 and 5.6 percent, respectively.