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BOK’s Lee: The economic recovery has strengthened

“The economic recovery has strengthened,” the Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol said at the post-monetary policy press conference on Thursday.

Additional comments

Thursday's rate decision was unanimous.

Will maintain an accommodative stance for a while.

Private consumption is improving.

Monitoring the coronavirus spread, financial imbalances.

Government’s extra budget to boost growth by 0.2 pct pt.

Preparing for orderly normalization of monetary policy.

Whether or not a rate hike comes this year depends on pace of growth.

Earlier on, the South Korean central maintained the key rate at 0.50% in its May monetary policy meeting, noting that they “will monitor the severity of coronavirus spread.”

The BOK also said that inflation will remain at a high level for some time.

Market reaction

USD/KRW is off the daily highs of 1,119.91 reached on the BOK’s rate decision.

The spot is currently trading 0.11% higher at 1,117.83, with the Korean won remains undermined by the dovish tone.

Author

Dhwani Mehta

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

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