S. Korea's import prices fall in April

Import prices in South Korea continued to decline on-year in April in tandem with weaker global oil prices compared with a year earlier, data showed Wednesday.

In local currency terms, import prices dropped 17.1 percent on-year last month, compared with a 17.1 percent fall in March, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. It marks the 32nd straight month in which import prices declined.

From a month earlier, import prices fell 2.4 percent, a turnaround from a 0.3 percent gain in the previous month, as a strengthening won offset rising oil prices.

The won traded at an average of 1,088.7 against the U.S. dollar in April, strengthening 2.1 percent from 1,112.6 in the previous month. The price of Dubai crude, meanwhile, gained 5.5 percent in the cited period to US$57.72 per barrel.

Export prices fell 6.1 percent on-year in April, slightly slowing from a 6.8 percent drop in the previous month. On a monthly basis, they fell 2 percent, turning around from a 0.9 percent gain in March. (Yonhap)