Bank of Korea Cuts Rates to Counter Yen Weakness

South Korea has cut interest rates in a surprise move aimed at boosting growth and countering the weak Japanese yen.

Its central bank, the Bank of Korea, lowered its benchmark rate from 2.5% to 2.25%, the first cut in seven months.

South Korean exporters are seeing their price competitiveness suffer after the Japanese government’s recent aggressive policy stance weakened the yen.

Exports, which account for nearly half of the South Korean economy, have also been hit by weak global demand.

via BBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza