South Korea’s central bank on Thursday announced that the benchmark interest rate will be kept unchanged, following seven consecutive rate hikes since April last year. The decision to freeze the rate comes after the Bank of Korea (BOK) lowered South Korea’s GDP growth outlook for this year to 1.6% rise, down from initial projection of 1.7% late last year.

"It is forecasted that inflation will continue to be above the target level [2%] throughout the year, although it is projected to gradually decrease," a BOK statement added on Thursday. Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to deliver another quarter-point rate hike next month and thus may widen the gap between the U.S. and South Korea’s interest rate gap to 1.50%~1.75% points.