SEOUL, Feb 15 (Reuters) - South Korea's import prices
fell for a third consecutive month in January to bring the
annual growth rate down to a near 2-year low, data showed on
Wednesday, adding to signs of easing pressure on consumer
inflation ahead.
The import price index, measured in terms of the won,
dropped 2.3% in January from the previous month after declines
of revised 6.5% and 5.5% in December and November 2022,
respectively, the data from the central bank showed.
From a year earlier, the index was just 1.7% higher, slowing
from a revised 8.7% gain in December 2022 and marking the
slowest annual growth since setting a 0.3% decline in February
2021, the Bank of Korea data showed.
The data supported a broad view among economists that
consumer inflation in Asia's fourth-largest economy was on a
slowing path, thus allowing the central bank to consider ending
its monetary policy tightening campaign soon.
The Bank of Korea has said the country's annual consumer
inflation would slow toward 3.0% later this year after hovering
around 5% in early months, compared with its target of keeping
it around 2% on a medium-term horizon.
(Reporting by Choonsik Yoo; Editing by Sam Holmes)
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