/VIEWS: Desk views on today's BoK MonPol......>

KOREA: /VIEWS: Desk views on today's BoK MonPol decision:

Barclays: We expect the BoK to keep its policy rate on hold at the May meeting,

given the still sluggish job market. The recent cautious comments by President

Moon's senior advisor on increasing risks of a recession and dovish comments by

BoK Governor Lee ("hard to be optimistic on South Korean economy") both suggest

increasing risks of a delay in further rate hikes. We do not rule out a

possibility of a dissenting vote in favour of a hike by monetary policy member

Dr. Lee Il Houng, though this is not our base case scenario. Any dissenting

vote, however, may be interpreted by the market as a prelude to a July hike.

Pantheon Macro: Governor Lee's comments indicate that he considers the currently

accommodative stance needs correcting. Effectively, rates remain on the

emergency setting, but at the moment there is no emergency. Perhaps Governor Lee

thinks that keeping rates this low might create one. That means the likelihood

of a hike amid deteriorating data is substantially higher than normal.