The Bank of Korea(BOK) has frozen the nation’s key interest rate at one-point-five percent for the eleventh consecutive month.
  
In its monthly monetary policy meeting on Friday, the BOK decided to keep the record-low rate steady for May.  

The rate freeze appears to be affected by rekindled speculations that U.S. benchmark interest rates will begin to rise soon. It also hints that South Korea's central bank is taking a wait-and-see stance as indicators of domestic economic activities are slightly improving.

The recovery of the South Korean economy is still feeble as it marked only zero-point-four percent growth in the first quarter, but there are some recent positive signals such as rising inflation and a declining pace at which the exports are dropping.

The BOK lowered the rate four times between August 2014 and June last year by a total of one percentage point but left it unchanged ever since.

Friday's meeting was the first of its kind since four new members joined the monetary policy committee last month.