Price Pressures Monitored

South Korea is closely monitoring rising prices of agricultural and oil products, according to Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom, amid concerns that inflation may pick up amid an economic slowdown. Kim added the government plans to draw up measures to respond to a potential surge in such prices, if needed.

• The country's inflation remains subdued amid the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, but prices of agricultural and livestock products jumped last month. PPI figures yesterday rose 0.8% Y/Y in January after a 0.2% rise in December. BoK forecasts inflation at 1% this year, adducing an economic recovery and a pickup in oil prices.
• There is also more detail on new social distancing rules in response to an uptick in virus cases. The new rules, which are expected to be introduced in March, focus on density by limiting the number of people in an indoor place and introducing a "one strike, you are out" policy where businesses that flout the rules will be held accountable and subject to punitive measures.