BOK positively assesses 'price stabilization measures'...“Limiting the rise in consumer prices”

According to The Financial News, the Bank of Korea (BOK) assessed that the government’s price stabilization measures have helped ease the upward pressure on consumer prices stemming from a sharp rise in international oil prices.
Ryoo Sangdai, BOK Deputy Governor, presided over a “Price Situation Review Meeting” on the 2nd. He said, “In March, consumer prices rose as petroleum product prices increased sharply, but prices of agricultural, livestock, and fisheries products declined. In particular, thanks to price stabilization measures such as the price ceiling on petroleum products, which caps refinery supply prices, the month‐on‐month increase in consumer prices was limited to only a slight expansion.”
In fact, the year‐on‐year increase in petroleum product prices in March was 9.9%, far above the 2.4% decline recorded in February. Even so, the consumer price inflation rate only inched up from 2.0% to 2.2%, a rise of 0.2 percentage points. For agricultural, livestock, and fisheries products, the rate shifted from a 1.7% increase to a 0.6% decrease, mainly due to expanded shipments of key agricultural products.
Core inflation, by contrast, fell to 2.2% from 2.3% the previous month. This was because the temporary surge in travel‐related service prices during the Lunar New Year holidays subsided again. In terms of contribution to overall consumer price inflation, petroleum products pushed the rate up by 0.48 percentage points, while agricultural, livestock, and fisheries products and core prices lowered it by 0.19 percentage points and 0.08 percentage points, respectively.
However, the living cost index, which covers 144 items that are purchased frequently and account for a large share of household spending, rose 2.3%, higher than the 1.8% increase in the previous month. One‐year‐ahead inflation expectations also inched up from 2.6% to 2.7%.
Deputy Governor Ryoo predicted, “From April onward, consumer price inflation is likely to accelerate due to the sharp rise in international oil prices. However, with food prices maintaining a stable trend and price stabilization measures such as the price ceiling on petroleum products in place, cost‐push inflationary pressures are expected to be alleviated.”
The average price of Dubai crude oil, which stood at 68.4 dollars per barrel in February, nearly doubled to 128.5 dollars in March. Over the same period, the won–dollar exchange rate climbed from 1,448 won to 1,493 won per dollar.

taeil0808@fnnews.com Reporter Kim Tae-il Reporter