The prices of gasoline and diesel are displayed at a gas station in Seoul on Aug. 20, 2023. Gasoline prices jumped 32.7 won from a week earlier to an average of 1,727.7 won per liter in the third week of August, and diesel prices surged 62.3 won to 1,588.3 won, according to Opinet, operated by the Korea National Oil Corp. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s consumer prices are expected to grow at a faster pace in the coming months after a monthslong downtrend due mainly to rising global oil prices, officials said Sunday.
Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, are forecast to rise more than 3 percent from a year earlier, at least in August and September, compared with a 2.3 percent increase in July, according to the finance ministry officials.
Inflation has marked a downtrend this year, falling from 5.2 percent in January to below 3 percent in June for the first time since September 2021.
July’s figure saw the lowest growth in 25 months.
The expectation of the upturn came as global oil prices have surged recently and South Korea depends mainly on imports for its energy needs.
The price of Dubai crude, South Korea’s benchmark, stood at US$86.41 per barrel on average from Aug. 1-25, up from $80.45 per barrel in July and $74.99 in June.
Prices of agricultural products, food and other necessities could also show a marked increase in the coming months, as heavy downpours damaged crops and demand for those items will go up for the Chuseok holiday next month.
But inflation is forecast to fall again, starting around October, due to high base effects and falling demand after the holiday, the officials said.
“The recent sharp rise in global oil prices appears to push up inflation to over 3 percent in August and September, though we are expected to see the figure fall back to the 2 percent range on average afterward,” Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho told a parliamentary session last week.
(Yonhap)
