MONEY MASTER

South Korea's consumer inflation has cooled more than anticipated in September, dipping below the central bank's target for the first time since early 2021. This development is fueling expectations of an imminent policy easing. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.6% in September compared to a year earlier, following a 2.0% increase in August, according to data from Statistics Korea released on Wednesday. This figure is lower than the median forecast of a 1.9% increase from a Reuters poll of economists and represents the weakest annual increase since February 2021. The CPI reading is now below the Bank of Korea's (BOK) medium-term target of 2% and coincides with growing discussions among policymakers and market participants about a potential interest rate cut ahead of the next policy meeting scheduled for October 11 . In response to the inflation data, South Korea's policy-sensitive three-year treasury bond yield fell by 3.4 basis points to 2.777% , marking th...

South Korea's household borrowing surged in August by the largest amount in over three years, driven primarily by a record increase in mortgage demand , according to data released by the central bank on Wednesday. Household borrowing from banks reached 1,130 trillion won (US$840.52 billion or RM3.66 trillion) at the end of August, marking an increase of 9.3 trillion won over the month. This is the largest monthly rise since July 2021. Mortgage loans alone rose by 8.2 trillion won , the biggest jump since such data became available in 2004, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). At a meeting with local banks on Tuesday, South Korea's financial watchdog expressed concerns over the rapid increase in household debt , warning that such financial imbalances could potentially evolve into systemic risks. The head of the watchdog urged banks to strengthen their risk management practices following recent tightening of lending rules by authorities earlier this month. "In September,...