A member of the Bank of Korea’s(BOK) monetary policy board proposed raising the key interest rate from an all-time low of point-five percent.

Following the committee's decision to continue the freeze on Thursday, BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol revealed that board member Koh Seung-beom suggested increasing the rate by point-25 percentage points.

This is the first time anyone on the board has mentioned raising the interest rate since the rate slash in May last year. The central bank committee has since kept the rate unchanged eight consecutive times.

The BOK governor said he believes that the time has come to review whether it would be appropriate to adjust the current easing of monetary policy at the next meeting.

Lee said despite the COVID-19 resurgence, the adjustment should be reviewed considering the recovery momentum, inflation and cumulative financial imbalance.

Regardless of the fourth wave in the pandemic, Lee expected growth this year to meet the central bank's previous forecast of four percent, due mainly to expanded vaccinations and the government's extra budget to finance relief programs.