Central Banks
South Korea Girds for Trump Tariff Impact With Surprise Rate Cut
- Central bank lowers policy rate to 3% in back-to-back move
- Cuts 2025 growth view below 2% as concern over outlook grows
The Bank of Korea ramped up its support for the economy with a surprise interest rate cut as Governor Rhee Chang-yong sounded the alarm over the potential impact of Donald Trump’s return to power on global trade.
The South Korean central bank lowered its seven-day repurchase rate by a quarter-percentage point to 3% on Thursday, just a month after starting a long-awaited policy pivot to shore up economic growth. Only four of 22 economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast the back-to-back cut while the remaining 18 expected a hold.