Bank of Korea Urged by President’s Adviser to Keep Rates on Hold

The Bank of Korea should refrain from any immediate interest-rate move and has “leeway” because the Federal Reserve isn’t expected to move until late 2015, an economic adviser to President Park Geun Hye said.

“If we raise the interest rate to discourage borrowings, it will damp already weak consumption and may trigger more defaults, escalating into a systemic risk,” Hyun Jung Taik said in an interview in Seoul yesterday. Hyun is vice chairman of the National Economic Advisory Council, which is chaired by Park.