Korea’s consumer inflation holds steady at 2.5% in May

South Korea’s consumer prices grew at the same pace in May compared to a year earlier amid the government’s push to tame inflationary pressure, a report showed Friday.

According to the report by Statistics Korea, the country’s consumer price index rose 2.5 percent in May from a year earlier, unchanged from a 2.5 percent gain tallied in April. The index rose 0.2 percent from a month ago.

May’s reading marks the third month in a row that inflation stood in the 2 percent range, down from 4 percent growth reported for the whole of 2011.

The so-called core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food costs, grew 1.6 percent from a year earlier, which represents a deceleration from a 1.8 percent increase for the previous month.

“Prices of fresh farm produce, some industrial goods and fuel pushed up prices, but such gains were offset by weak growth in the service sector such as payment covering childcare and telecommunication-related fees,” said Ahn Hyung-jun, the head of the statistical office’s prices statistical division. 

(Yonhap News)