김수연
| 2022-05-03 09:07:15
(LEAD) consumer prices-April
(LEAD) Inflation growth hits over 13-year high in April amid soaring fuel prices
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details throughout; ADDS photo)
By Kim Soo-yeon
SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in more than 13 years in April amid soaring energy costs caused by Russia's war with Ukraine and a rebound in demand from the pandemic, data showed Tuesday.
Consumer prices spiked 4.8 percent last month from a year earlier, accelerating from a 4.1 percent on-year gain in March, according to the data from Statistics Korea.
It marked the fastest on-year rise since the same 4.8 percent increase in October 2008, when the country was in the midst of the 2008-09 global financial crisis. Inflation growth also exceeded 4 percent for the second straight month.
Consumer prices rose above 2 percent -- the central bank's inflation target over the medium term -- for the 13th straight month in April.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and oil prices, advanced 3.1 percent on-year in April.
South Korea's inflation has been under upward pressure as oil prices surged on tight supply concerns over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Demand-pull price pressure has also risen amid the economic recovery.
Most of last month's price gains were driven by a hike in prices of petroleum products and personal service costs, according to the statistics agency. Electricity and gas prices also gained ground in line with the Korea Electric Power Corp.'s decision to hike the electricity rate.
Dubai crude, South Korea's benchmark, averaged US$102.82 per barrel in April, up 63.4 percent from a year earlier. It hit a yearly high of $127.86 per barrel on March 9. South Korea depends mainly on imports for its energy needs.
Since Sunday, the government has cut fuel taxes by a record 30 percent from the previous 20 percent in a bid to ease people's burden from high energy costs. The measure will be effective for three months.
Prices of petroleum products jumped 34.4 percent on-year in April, an acceleration from a 31.4 percent gain in March due to surging oil prices.
Personal service prices and the price of dining out continued to rise last month amid the economic recovery.
Personal service prices increased 4.5 percent amid relaxed virus curbs. The price of dining out gained 6.6 percent, the fastest growth since April 1998.
Prices of agricultural, livestock and fisheries products rose 1.9 percent on-year, picking up from a 0.4 percent gain in March.
Prices of daily necessities -- 141 items closely related to people's daily lives, such as food, clothing and housing -- climbed 5.7 percent on-year in April, the steepest on-year gain since August 2008.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) expressed concerns that inflation will be under more upward pressure going forward, calling for close monitoring on the possibility of inflation expectations being translated into higher prices.
South Korean consumers' inflation expectation rate hit a nine-year high in April, central bank data showed. Consumers in April expected inflation to grow 3.1 percent over the next 12 months, up from the 2.9 percent forecast made in the previous month.
In April, the BOK raised the policy rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.5 percent last week, the fourth rate hike since August last year, to tame inflation and curb high household debt.
The BOK hinted at additional rate hikes in the coming months to rein in inflation and household debt despite concerns that fast-rising rate increases could dampen economic growth.
Last month, the International Monetary Fund lowered its 2022 growth outlook for the South Korean economy to 2.5 percent while raising its inflation projection to 4 percent.
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