BoK Gov. Reassures Over Recovery, Notes Hawkish Dissent

BoK Governor Lee sought to reassure markets that the economic recovery is still on track. The governor said CPI could exceed 2% in the short term and the Bank is keeping an eye on that, also noting the virus resurgence won't impact economic growth too severely compared with last year. He did note there could be a slowdown in consumption, but the Bank has maintained its 4% growth forecast and noted that the extra budget should help protect the economy.

• The most notable bit of information from the Governor was that one MPC member called for a 25bps hike, an unexpected hawkish dissent. Lee also said that the need for policy normalization was increasing due to financial imbalances, such as home prices and household debt.