S Korea Jan inflation at 3.6per cent, near a decade-high
SEOUL :South Korea’s consumer inflation for January hovered near a decade-high on surging fuel and food prices, boosting the case for more interest rate hikes in 2022.
January consumer prices jumped 3.6per cent from a year earlier, beating a 3.3per cent gain tipped in a Reuters poll and remaining above the central bank’s 2per cent target for a 10th straight month.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel costs, jumped 2.6per cent from a year earlier, the fastest since December 2015, in a sign that surging prices of fuel and other raw materials have fed through to higher service costs for goods and services.
A sub-index on fresh food prices jumped 6.0per cent year-on-year and one for agricultural and fisheries soared 6.3per cent, government data showed on Friday.
Transportation costs gained 7.2per cent year-on-year, boosted by rising prices of automotive fuel imports.
The strong reading, coming after a 3.8per cent rise…