SEOUL, May 28 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's central bank on Thursday cut its benchmark interest rate to a new record low of 0.50 percent to tackle an economic fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak across the world.
Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol and six monetary policy board members decided to slash the seven-day repurchase rate by 25 basis points to an all-time low of 0.75 percent.
The BOK lowered the key rate by 50 basis points in March in its first emergency move since the 2008 global financial crisis.
The rate cut decision was not in line with market expectations. According to a Korea Financial Investment Association (KFIA) survey of 200 fixed-income experts, 79 percent predicted a rate on hold. Enditem
