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This file photo, taken last Monday, shows citizens shopping for groceries at a discount store in Seoul. (Yonhap) |
South Korea's consumer prices rose more than 2 percent for the fifth straight month in August due to high prices of farm and oil products, data showed Thursday, indicating a continued build-up of inflationary pressure amid an economic recovery.
The consumer prices rose 2.6 percent in August from a year earlier, the same growth as the previous month, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
Compared with a month earlier, consumer inflation rose 0.6 percent last month, accelerating from a 0.2 percent on-month gain in July.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and oil prices, rose 1.3 percent on-year in August.
The country's price pressure has been under upward pressure as the economic recovery accelerates.The Bank of Korea (BOK) recently raised its 2021 inflation outlook to 2.1 percent from its earlier estimate of 1.8 percent.
The BOK aims to keep annual inflation at 2 percent over the medium term. (Yonhap)
