Bank of Korea(BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol has hinted that the monetary board may raise key rates further in coming months. 

In an online meeting with reporters on Thursday, Lee said another hike in the benchmark rate to one-point-five percent will not be deemed as excessive.

He made the remark after the central bank froze rates at one-point-25 percent earlier in the day, a month after it was raised by a quarter percentage point amid growing inflationary pressure and soaring household debt. 

He said the BOK monetary policy board’s latest decision reflects the need to slow down the successive rate adjustments and monitor policies of other countries and changes in geopolitical risks and their impact on the domestic economy. The BOK has raised rates three times in the span of six months since last August, each by a quarter percentage point.

Still, he stressed that the central bank needs to continue adjusting rates in anticipation of persistent inflationary pressure and growing risks of financial imbalance. Lee indicated that two rate hikes or even more may be possible, saying that expectations in the market that the rate will rise to two percent are “reasonable.”