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피터빈트

Korea's consumer price growth hits 1-year high in September

By Yonhap

Published : Oct. 5, 2018 - 09:59

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South Korea's consumer price growth continued to stay above 1 percent in September, hitting the highest level in a year, on a sharp rise in prices for agricultural goods and the service sector, government data showed Friday.

The country's consumer price index climbed 1.9 percent last month from a year earlier, accelerating from the previous month's 1.4 percent on-year gain, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The on-year rise marks the highest since September last year, when the comparable figure was 2.1 percent.

From a month earlier, the index rose 0.7 percent.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, rose 1.2 percent on-year.


(Yonhap) (Yonhap)

The September figure is below the Bank of Korea's target of 2 percent for the year.

Prices of agricultural goods shot up 7.1 percent on-year last month, compared with a 3.5 percent on-year gain tallied for August.

In the case of vegetables, their prices surged 12.4 percent on-year last month.

Prices of industrial goods increased 1.9 percent from the year before, compared to a 2 percent on-year rise reported for the previous month, the agency said. Oil prices also surged 10.7 percent last month.

The statistical office said prices of service charges moved up 1.4 percent last month, vis-a-vis a 1.4 percent on-year increase in August.

Following the surge in prices of vegetables, the government said it would make efforts to stabilize the country's consumer prices by increasing supply.

"September's consumer price growth accelerated due to a rise in prices of agricultural products and the tapering of a one-time cut in electricity bills," Vice Finance Minister Ko Hyeong-kwon said in a policy review meeting.

"The government will control consumer prices via a rise in supply," he said.

As to rising oil prices, the government will beef up its monitoring of global oil prices and redouble efforts to stabilize them. (Yonhap)

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