SEOUL– The chief of the Bank of Korea (BOK) was set to meet with heads of 10 local banks Monday in an effort to better communicate with the financial market in the wake of the central bank’s latest back-to-back rate hike, his office said.
BOK Gov. Rhee Chang-yong plans to hold his first meeting with chiefs of local banks, including KB Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank, and the head of the Korea Federation of Banks, later in the day. He took office last month with a four-year term.
Rhee is expected to personally explain the BOK’s latest decision to hike the benchmark interest rate and discuss economic situations, according to the BOK.
Last week, the BOK carried out its first back-to-back rate hike in 15 years to tame inflation. The central bank raised the policy rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.75 percent, the fifth rate hike since August last year.
The BOK sharply raised its 2022 inflation outlook to a 14-year high of 4.5 percent from its previous 3.1 percent estimate. It lowered its growth forecast for the South Korean economy to 2.7 percent from 3 percent.
Source: Yonhap News Agency