BOK Holds Rate to Support Economy as Won Rise Adds to Risks

South Korea’s central bank left its key rate unchanged and the government said it will speed up spending, seeking to spur growth that faces headwinds from a surge in the won and weaker consumption after a deadly ferry accident.

The Bank of Korea held the seven-day repurchase rate at 2.5 percent for a 12th straight month, it said in a statement in Seoul today, as forecast by all 16 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The government plans to spend 57 percent of this year’s budget in the first half to support consumption, the finance and other ministries said in an e-mailed statement.