S. Korea's consumer prices rise 2.6 pct in April
SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's consumer prices grew at a relatively stable pace in April, easing anxieties that inflation could hamper the government's drive to bolster the economy, a report showed Monday.
According to the report by Statistics Korea, the consumer price index rose 2.6 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with a 2.3 percent growth in March. It remained under the 3 percent mark for a third consecutive month.
The figure is slightly higher than the 2.4 percent predicted in a poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. Core inflation, excluding volatile oil and food prices, rose 1.5 percent from a year ago, unchanged from the previous month, the report showed.
"Excluding oil prices, manufactured goods and other service-sector prices stayed relatively low, helping ease the upward inflationary pressure," Yang Dong-hee, head of the price statistics division at the agency, told reporters. "The rising value of the local currency also played a role in keeping prices in a stable mode by lowering import costs."
The consumer price index has been watched closely as the government and central bank have maintained economy-boosting macroeconomic and monetary measures. Rapid inflation could put pressure on authorities to roll back stimulus so as to avoid price increases and the creation of asset bubbles.
The government predicts that South Korea's economy will grow around 5 percent this year after managing to avoid a contraction in 2009. The Bank of Korea has kept its key interest rate at a record low of 2 percent for 14th straight months.
The latest inflation rate remains within the central bank's target range of between 2 percent and 4 percent until 2012.
Despite stabilizing prices, consumers might continue to feel the pinch of the economic slump when they go shopping, according to the report.
The price index for daily goods jumped 3 percent from a year earlier, while the index for fresh products including vegetables surged 12.1 percent over the cited period.
Transportation costs, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages, and the cost of clothes and shoes jumped 6.4 percent, 3.1 percent and 5 percent, respectively, leading the overall increase, according to the report.
Prices for manufactured goods also remained high as gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas saw their prices jump 10.9 percent, 12.7 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively, last month from a year earlier, the report showed.
In a report unveiled after the agency announced the statistics, the finance ministry predicted that the consumer price index will continue to "stabilize under the 3 percent mark in May as increasing supply will drive down prices of agriculture goods and a strong local currency will also help ease the overall inflationary pressure.
SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's consumer prices grew at a relatively stable pace in April, easing anxieties that inflation could hamper the government's drive to bolster the economy, a report showed Monday.
According to the report by Statistics Korea, the consumer price index rose 2.6 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with a 2.3 percent growth in March. It remained under the 3 percent mark for a third consecutive month.
The figure is slightly higher than the 2.4 percent predicted in a poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency. Core inflation, excluding volatile oil and food prices, rose 1.5 percent from a year ago, unchanged from the previous month, the report showed.
"Excluding oil prices, manufactured goods and other service-sector prices stayed relatively low, helping ease the upward inflationary pressure," Yang Dong-hee, head of the price statistics division at the agency, told reporters. "The rising value of the local currency also played a role in keeping prices in a stable mode by lowering import costs."
The consumer price index has been watched closely as the government and central bank have maintained economy-boosting macroeconomic and monetary measures. Rapid inflation could put pressure on authorities to roll back stimulus so as to avoid price increases and the creation of asset bubbles.
The government predicts that South Korea's economy will grow around 5 percent this year after managing to avoid a contraction in 2009. The Bank of Korea has kept its key interest rate at a record low of 2 percent for 14th straight months.
The latest inflation rate remains within the central bank's target range of between 2 percent and 4 percent until 2012.
Despite stabilizing prices, consumers might continue to feel the pinch of the economic slump when they go shopping, according to the report.
The price index for daily goods jumped 3 percent from a year earlier, while the index for fresh products including vegetables surged 12.1 percent over the cited period.
Transportation costs, prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages, and the cost of clothes and shoes jumped 6.4 percent, 3.1 percent and 5 percent, respectively, leading the overall increase, according to the report.
Prices for manufactured goods also remained high as gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas saw their prices jump 10.9 percent, 12.7 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively, last month from a year earlier, the report showed.
In a report unveiled after the agency announced the statistics, the finance ministry predicted that the consumer price index will continue to "stabilize under the 3 percent mark in May as increasing supply will drive down prices of agriculture goods and a strong local currency will also help ease the overall inflationary pressure.