{
  "id": 3658499,
  "title": "South Korea announces second successive rate hike",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/south-korea-announces-second-successive-rate-hike-3658499",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-27T03:22:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/business/2026/08/27/south-korea-announces-second-successive-rate-hike"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "South Korea's central bank, the Bank of Korea, increased interest rates for the second consecutive time on Thursday, raising the base rate from 2.75% to 3.0%. This marks the first rate hike in over three years. The decision was made after the central bank observed strong economic growth, driven by robust exports and a recovery in domestic demand. Despite the rate hike, the bank warned that inflation would likely remain elevated due to higher energy costs resulting from the Middle East crisis. Inflation in July climbed 2.8% year-on-year, slightly lower than the previous month's increase but still well above the bank's 2% target. The Bank of Korea also upgraded its economic growth forecasts for this year to 3.3% and for next year to 2.9%, compared to their May predictions of 2.6% and 2.1% respectively. The strong performance of South Korea's chipmakers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, was a key factor in the nation's economic growth.",
  "summary": "Domestic economy continues to post stronger-than-expected growth, backed by strong exports and recovering demand.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "Bank of Korea delivers back-to-back rate hikes as price pressures persist",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/bank-of-korea-delivers-back-to-back-rate-hikes-as-price-pressures",
        "published": "2026-08-27T02:13:05.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "South Korea announces second successive rate hike",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/south-korea-announces-second-successive-rate-hike",
        "published": "2026-08-27T03:22:10.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Straits Times Business",
        "title": "South Korea announces second successive rate hike",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/27/south-korea-announces-second-successive-rate-hike-3657418",
        "published": "2026-08-27T03:30:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}