BOK freezes key rate in 4-3 vote: minutes

Policymakers at South Korea's central bank froze the key interest rate in a 4-3 vote in April when the government had put pressure on the Bank of Korea (BOK) to lower borrowing costs, the bank's minutes showed Tuesday.
   
At a rate-setting meeting held on April 11, the Bank of Korea's seven-member monetary policy committee decided to leave the benchmark 7-day repo rate unchanged at 2.75 percent for the sixth straight month. The central bank cut the key rate in July and October last year.
  
In April, the government put pressure on the BOK to lower the key rate, calling for the central bank to join the government's drive for stimulus.
  
The 4-3 vote indicates that BOK Gov. Kim Choong-soo, also chairman of the monetary policy committee, exercised a casting vote at the monetary policy meeting. Usually, the governor does not vote when a majority is created among other members.
   
Three BOK board members -- Ha Sung-keun, Chung Hae-bang and Chung Soon-won -- argued for a rate cut for this month, saying that there is the need to maximize the impacts of a policy mix by harmonizing monetary and fiscal policies in the same direction.
   
The BOK revised down its 2013 growth estimate to 2.6 percent from the previous 2.8 percent. The government sharply lowered its growth projection to 2.3 percent and proposed an extra budget worth 7.3 trillion won (US$15.7 billion) to spur the growth.
   
The BOK's next rate-session is slated for May 9. (Yonhap News)