Bank of Korea Keeps Policy Rate Unchanged at 2.50 Percent

(MENAFN) South Korea's central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the sixth consecutive time on Thursday, as policymakers continued to grapple with a stubbornly elevated exchange rate and persistently high household debt levels.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) voted to keep its seven-day repurchase rate steady at 2.50 percent, citing lingering economic uncertainties that have repeatedly stayed its hand on monetary easing.

The latest freeze extends a holding pattern that has now spanned six successive meetings — in January and February this year, and in July, August, October, and November of 2024. The decisions follow a period of measured easing, during which the BOK trimmed its key rate by 25 basis points on four separate occasions: in February and May of 2025, and in October and November of 2024.

Officials pointed to two persistent pressure points driving the pause — a won exchange rate that remains elevated despite earlier rate cuts, and a swelling household debt burden that continues to cloud the domestic economic outlook.

MENAFN26022026000045017169ID1110791638