Bank of Korea raises base rate 25 basis points to 3.00%

The Bank of Korea raised its base rate by 25 basis points to 3.00% from 2.75%, marking a second straight increase after lifting it from 2.50% to 2.75% in July. The move brought the policy rate back into the 3% range for the first time since November 2024 after one year and nine months, while narrowing the gap with the U.S. base rate to 0.75 percentage point from one percentage point. This was only the fourth time the Bank of Korea has delivered consecutive rate hikes, following previous instances in July-August 2007, from November 2021 to January 2022, and from April 2022 to January 2023.