Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol chairs a policy meeting. [Yonhap News Photo]
South Korea's central bank Thursday held its prime interest rate for October unchanged at a record low of 1.25 percent for the fourth consecutive month to prop up economic growth.
Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol has already hinted at freezing the rate, citing uncertainties such as a slow economic recovery and the country's household debt which rose to an all-time high of 1,257.3 trillion won (1.116 trillion US dollars) at the end of June.
Government data showed South Korea's jobless rate stood at 3.6 percent in September, compared with 3.2 percent a year earlier, due mainly to a slowdown in the manufacturing sector and exports. In September, exports fell 5.9 percent on year to $40.9 billion.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
