S Korean central bank reaffirms policy focus on inflation

South Korea's central bank reemphasized Monday that fighting for inflation will continue to be its main concern in the second-half of this year to put out fueling speculation of a rate increase soon.
"Of slow growth, rising consumer prices and current account deficit, what's the most worrisome part is inflation," said Kim Byung-hwa, deputy governor of the Bank of Korea, at a forum in Seoul.
"First of all, macro-economic policy should focus on stabilizing prices," Kim said at the forum organized by South Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a business lobby group.
Last week, the South Korean central bank left its benchmark rate unchanged at five percent for the 11th consecutive month referring to the signs of stagflation haunting South Korean economy.
Annual consumer-price inflation reached almost a decade-high of5.5 percent in June as oil prices and costs for raw materials continued to surge.
Source:Xinhua