South Korea Cuts Benchmark Rate to All-Time Low after Covid-19 Threatens Economy

South Korea’s central bank cut the policy interest rate to a new low on Thursday to support business liquidities that were hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bank of Korea approved to cut the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.5%, the lowest since the bank adopted the current policy system in 1999.

BOK expected the economy to shrink 0.2% this year, a downgrade from the 2.1% growth from its February forecast, which would be the biggest contraction since the 1998 Asian financial crisis. While the inflation will slow to 0.3%.