SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s consumer inflation accelerated in February after three months of easing and was faster than market expectations, official data showed on Wednesday.
The consumer price index rose 3.1% in February from the same month the year before, compared with a rise of 2.8% in January and a gain of 2.9% tipped in a Reuters poll of economists.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.5%, after rising 0.4% in the previous month. It was the fastest jump since September, according to Statistics Korea.
By product, prices of agricultural products climbed 5.7% over the month, leading the index higher, while petroleum products rose 2.5%.
Policymakers have said inflation could be volatile in February and March but are expected to continue stabilising afterwards.
The Bank of Korea last month held interest rates steady for a ninth straight meeting, while seeking to hose down investors’ aggressive rate cut expectations with inflation still far above the central bank’s target of 2%.
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Chris Reese)
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