Seoul: South Korea's central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point on Thursday, just five days ahead of the country's presidential election, in an effort to prop up economic growth amid sluggish domestic demand and uncertainties stemming from Washington's sweeping tariff scheme. The monetary policy committee of the Bank of Korea (BOK) slashed the key rate by 25 basis points to 2.5 percent at its monthly rate-setting meeting in Seoul.
According to Yonhap News Agency, this move marked the fourth reduction since October 2024, when the BOK began a monetary easing cycle for the first time since August 2021. Since then, the central bank has lowered the policy rate by a total of 1 percentage point through May.
At its previous meeting in April, the BOK held the policy rate steady, citing the need to support the weak local currency and assess the evolving impact of new U.S. tariff measures.