Expected inflation hit a nine-year high in April amid rapid price hikes.
According to the Bank of Korea(BOK) on Wednesday, expected inflation, measuring consumers’ views on how much prices will rise in the next 12 months, stood at three-point-one percent this month, up zero-point-two percentage points from March.
It is the highest level since April of 2013, when anticipated inflation also registered three-point-one percent.
Hwang Hee-jin, a BOK official, said marked growth in consumer and producer prices affected the uptick, as well as the easing of social distancing amid the pandemic slowdown and supply chain disruptions worsened by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The expected key interest rate index regarding how the benchmark rate will move in the future also hit a record high at 141, up by five points from March amid growing speculation that another key rate hike is to come in an effort to tame inflation.
The latest BOK survey was conducted on two-thousand-500 households nationwide between April 12 and April 19.
Source: KBS World Radio