South Korea slashes 2015 growth, inflation forecasts

Seoul: South Korea’s central bank on Thursday slashed its 2015 economic growth forecast for the second time this year and predicted annual inflation would drop below the 1.0 per cent mark. The monthly monetary meeting of the Bank of Korea (BOK) also left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for April, following a surprise 25 basis point reduction the previous month. The growth forecast had already been lowered in January from 3.9 per cent to 3.4 per cent, but the bank said Thursday it was now estimating growth for the year at 3.1 per cent. It also said annual inflation was likely to come in at just 0.9 per cent, compared to the bank’s earlier forecast of 1.9 per cent.