South Korea’s inflation hit its fastest clip since late 1998 in June, outstripping forecasts again and keeping pressure on the Bank of Korea to consider an outsized interest-rate hike next week.
Consumer prices advanced 6% from a year earlier, quickening from growth of 5.4% in May, the statistics office reported Tuesday. That’s the fastest pace since November 1998 when prices rose 6.8%. Economists had expected the rate to climb 5.9%.
Rapid price gains have been the biggest concern for global policymakers this year, with central banks unleashing larger-than-usual interest rate hikes to tame accelerating inflation.