The Bank of Korea lowered its base rate for the first time in more than four years on Friday, in order to stimulate economy as inflation weakened to the lowest since early 2021 and household debt began to slow on tight macroprudential policies. The Monetary Policy Board headed by Rhee Chang Yong decided to cut the Base Rate by 25 basis points to 3.25 percent from 3.50 percent.
The board judged that it is appropriate to slightly moderate the restrictive monetary policy and examine the impact of this going forward. However, one member Chang Yongsung voted to maintain the base rate at 3.50 percent. The reduction came after holding the policy rate for thirteen consecutive meetings and marked the first cut since May 2020.
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May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.