The Bank of Korea(BOK) will hold a Monetary Policy Board meeting on Thursday to decide whether it will raise its key interest rate.
 
The central bank carried out three rate hikes since August last year, amounting to a combined zero-point-75 percentage point. In February, the bank froze the policy rate at one-point-25 percent.
 
This week’s rate-setting meeting comes amid growing inflation pressure, the U.S. Fed’s monetary tightening stance and the ongoing war in Ukraine. It also will take place with the governor post temporarily unoccupied.
 
South Korea’s consumer prices rose four-point-one percent in March on-year, the steepest increase in more than ten years. Annual inflation is forecast to far exceed the BOK’s projection of three-point-one percent.
 
A recent survey of 100 bond market experts found that 50 percent of respondents predicted a rate hike, while the other half expected the BOK to leave the rate unchanged.