Lee Chang-yong, the governor of the Bank of Korea, stated during a press conference held right after the Monetary Policy Committee on the 28th, "In this decision to freeze the base interest rate, Commissioner Shin Seong-hwan expressed the opinion that it would be desirable to lower the base interest rate by 0.25 percentage points (p)."
The governor noted, "The growth rate of household loans has significantly slowed, and given the high possibility of an interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve in September, the opinion was that we should proactively lower the interest rate to respond to the economy."
On this day, the Monetary Policy Committee decided to freeze the base interest rate at 2.50% per annum. This maintains a wait-and-see stance, continuing the trend from May. The Bank of Korea had alternately decided to lower the interest rate by 0.25 percentage points in October and November of last year, and then freeze (in January, April, and July) and lower (in February and May) it this year.
The governor said, "The remaining five Monetary Policy Committee members mentioned that 'a growth rate lower than the potential level is expected to continue.'"