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SKorean central bank slashes key interest rate

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-11 10:01

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea's central bank carried out its biggest interest rate cut ever Thursday, slashing borrowing costs by a full percentage point to a record low in a bid to stave off possible recession.

Lee Seong-tae, governor of the Bank of Korea, uses his laptop during a meeting to decide a benchmark call rate at its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008. The central bank said it was slashing its benchmark seven-day repurchase rate to 3 percent from 4 percent during a regular policy meeting Thursday. [Agencies]

The Bank of Korea said it was slashing its benchmark seven-day repurchase rate to 3 percent from 4 percent during a regular policy meeting Thursday.

It was the fourth time for the bank to lower the rate in the past two months and exceeded the 0.75 percentage point emergency cut on October 27, previously the largest one.

The rate has gone from 5.25 percent to 3 percent since the cycle of easing began on October 9.

The previous record low for the bank's benchmark rate was 3.25 percent last seen in October 2005.

South Korea's economy slowed in the third quarter and economists are predicting it could falter further next year amid global economic weakness.