South Korea's February consumer price index rose at its fastest pace in more than two years, putting more pressure on the central bank to raise its policy interest rate next week, reports the Wall Street Journal.
In February, the consumer price index was up 4.5% from the same month a year earlier, accelerating from a 4.1% rise in January. Inflation was driven by rising global raw material prices and more expensive service charges, says the Journal. On a monthly comparison, the CPI rose 0.8% following a 0.9% increase in January.
Government data also shows that Korea's exports rose 17.9% from a year earlier to US$38.96 billion in February, while imports were up 16.3% on year at US$36.11 billion, resulting in a surplus of US$2.85 billion.
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