Lee Chang-yong "Interest Rate Cut Possible Considering Only Inflation"

Lee Chang-yong, Governor of the Bank of Korea, said on the 3rd, "Looking at inflation alone, it is now a time when considering a rate cut is fully possible."

Lee Chang-yong, Governor of the Bank of Korea, is attending the '2024 Global Economy and Financial Stability Conference' held on the 3rd at the Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Governor Lee met with reporters at the '2024 G20 Global Economy and Financial Stability Conference' held at the Plaza Hotel in Seoul and said, "It is time to consider the appropriate timing for how to move, taking financial stability into account, as with the previous interest rate decision."

Regarding the opinion that inflation has fully entered a stabilization phase, he said, "It is not complete stabilization, but if there are no major supply shocks, it will fluctuate around the current level for several months," and evaluated, "Financial stability is going well as we expected."

Meanwhile, Shin Sung-hwan, a member of the Bank of Korea's Monetary Policy Committee, told reporters on the same day, "I think the house price level relative to income has already entered bubble territory," and diagnosed, "If house prices rise further compared to income, it could significantly undermine financial market stability."

He added, "Personally, I think monetary policy should be on standby," suggesting the possibility of an interest rate hike. He also said, "We need to observe and judge how effective various measures by financial authorities are in the actual market."