Lee Chang-yong, governor of the Bank of Korea, said at a press briefing held right after the Monetary Policy Committee meeting on the 10th, "This decision (to maintain the base rate) was made unanimously by all members of the Monetary Policy Committee."
Governor Lee added, "Given that the rise in housing prices in the capital region and the increase in household debt have significantly expanded, and that we need to examine the effects of the recently strengthened household debt measures, I concluded that it is appropriate to maintain the current level of the base rate."
He continued, "Above all, the biggest change in policy conditions since the last Monetary Policy Committee meeting in May is that the housing market has overheated, focused on the capital region, and concerns about financial imbalances have greatly increased due to the expansion of household debt." He noted, "We need to calm the overheating sentiment in the housing market, and I believe we should also evaluate the effects of the household debt measures introduced by the government recently."
On that day, the Monetary Policy Committee decided to freeze the base rate at 2.50% per annum. The Bank of Korea had previously lowered the base rate by 0.25 percentage points at meetings in October and November of last year, as well as in February and May of this year.