Rhee Chang-yong, governor of the Bank of Korea, said at a press briefing held right after the the Bank of Korea's monetary policy committee on the 23rd that "of the six Commissioners on the committee excluding me, four said we should keep open the possibility of lowering the rate to a level below the current annual 2.50% within the next three months."
Rhee said, "Compared with the last meeting on the direction of monetary policy, the number of Commissioners who mentioned a cut or a hold changed from 5-to-1 to 4-to-2," adding, "The rate-cut bias remains, but one Commissioner moved from a cut to a hold."
Asked about the possibility of a hold in the fourth quarter, Rhee said, "We need to look at several factors," adding, "For the time being, household debt risks have abated because of new policy, but real estate prices are the key."