Anchor: Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol has stressed the need for caution when it comes to adjusting the nation’s key interest rate amid high uncertainties at home and abroad. The central bank also assessed in a report that the nation appears to be facing increased uncertainties on its recovery path.
Our Bae Joo-yon has more.
 
Report: Bank of Korea(BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol said Tuesday that there is a need for caution in adjusting the nation’s key interest rate when uncertainties both at home and abroad are running high.
 
Lee made the remark to reporters following the central bank’s monthly monetary policy meeting. At the meeting, the bank decided to leave the benchmark rate steady at one-point-five percent for February.
 
Lee said now is the time to consider financial stability risks in addition to macroeconomic risks in a balanced manner.
 
On rumors that the BOK will further slash the key interest rate, Lee said it’s uncertain what effects a rate cut will have amid high uncertainties domestically and internationally, expressing concerns of a possible fallout.
 
He apparently made the remarks to underline the need for caution in marking down the key interest rate at a time when financial markets of the U.S., Japan and Europe are showing signs of volatility.
 
On Tuesday, six out of the seven members of the central bank’s monetary policy committee supported freezing the interest rate for this month while the remaining member called for the rate to be slashed by a quarter percentage point.
 
The BOK also said in a report issued after the monetary policy meeting that the nation appears to be facing increased uncertainties on its wobbly recovery path.
  
On the internal front, the bank pointed to a growing slump in exports and a feeble recovery in domestic consumption.
  
It cited weakening economic recovery trends in the U.S. and Europe and a slowdown of growth in emerging economies as external woes.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.