Our top story at this hour...<br />In its first monetary policy meeting of the year....South Korea's central bank forecast the local economy to grow by 2-point-six percent for 2019, down from last year's two-point-seven percent... and expected consumer prices to rise by one-point-four percent.<br />As widely expected, it kept its key rate steady<br />Kim Hyesung starts us off.<br /> <br />The Bank of Korea on Thursday kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1-point-75 percent for January.<br />This comes after it raised its key rate by a-quarter-of-a-percent for the first time in about a year last November. <br />The central bank pointed to weakening economic growth, and slowing exports and investment for its latest decision. <br />The local economy grew 2-point-7 percent in 2018, slowing from 3-point-one percent in 2017...to mark the slowest pace of growth in six years. <br />Data by the Korea Customs Service shows that between January 1st and 20th, overseas shipments fell by 14 percent on-year...and exports to China dropped by double digits. <br />Sales of semiconductors, a key driver of growth in recent years, tumbled almost thirty percent on-year in January.<br />Facilities investment in 2018 declined one-point-seven percent, and construction investment also fell four percent, hitting the lowest level in two decades. <br />Consumer prices rose 1-point-five percent in 2018, below the bank's two percent target.<br />Externally, the slowing global economy and the U.S.-China trade spat could further hurt Korea's exports.<br />At the same time, a less hawkish U.S. Federal reserve has eased pressure on the BOK to raise its key rate... with the U.S-Korea rate gap expected to stay at zero-point-75 percentage points.<br />Kim Hyesung, Arirang News. <br />
