BOK to Raise Key Interest Rate Without Governor

The Bank of Korea will hold a monetary policy meeting on April 14 to set the key interest rate. The central bank is widely expected to increase it due to mounting inflationary pressure.

Consumer prices increased 4.1 percent in March on-year, the highest in a decade.

Ahn Jae-kyun at Shinhan Investment Corporation said, "There are mounting calls for the BOK to deal with inflationary pressure, so we cannot rule out a rate hike this month."

But the meeting will have to go ahead without a governor since Lee Ju-yeol's term ended last month, while his successor Lee Chang-yong awaits a National Assembly confirmation hearing in mid-April.

Market watchers expected the BOK to wait until at least May to hike the key rate due to the vacuum at the top, but last month's inflation figures make a rate hike urgent even if it could pour cold water on a nascent economic recovery and hike the interest burden on W1.8 quadrillion worth of household debt.