The Bank of Korea estimates that the inflation rate in September was around 2%, but the upward trend is expanding.

Even in the 2% range in September, “Considering the disappearance of the base effect in August, the increase in September has expanded.”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Ji-hoon Han = The Bank of Korea assessed on the 2nd that although the consumer price increase rate in September fell to the 2% range, the price increase trend has actually expanded.

Lee Ji-ho, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Korea, presided over a meeting to review the price situation at the Bank of Korea this morning and said, "The consumer, core, and living price inflation rates in September were all lower than last month, but considering that the temporary base effect in August has disappeared, the price increase has expanded somewhat."

It is important to take into account that due to the base effect of SK Telecom's [017670] 50% reduction in mobile phone charges last year, the consumer price inflation rate in August this year was higher by 0.6 percentage points (p), the core price inflation rate was higher by 0.8 percentage points, and the living price inflation rate was higher by 1.1 percentage points.

Deputy Governor Lee analyzed, “In terms of core items, due to the transfer of cost pressure, the price of personal services continued to rise sharply, centering on airfares and travel expenses,” adding, “Due to the influence of the rise in semiconductor prices, the price increase in prices of durable goods such as electronic products also expanded.”

He continued, “The consumer price inflation rate in October is also expected to continue at a high level of around 3% as the upward trend in core items continues.”

He said, "In the future, consumer prices will continue to rise strongly, especially core prices, due to the transfer of cost shocks and increased pressure on the demand side, while uncertainty related to the war in the Middle East remains high. We will monitor the price situation with vigilance."