South Korean Inflation Surges to Decade-High in November

South Korean inflation accelerated faster than expectations to hit a decade-high in November, amid a surge in food and oil prices during the month.

• Inflation clocked in at 3.7%, faster than the expected 3.1%, and the Bank of Korea’s 2% target for eight straight months, attributed mainly to higher prices for food and oil, with the country reliant on imports.

• Researchers believe global supply chain disruptions have increased agricultural and petrochemical products, while easing of restrictions drove more people to eat out.

• The Korean won also drove up the price of imports of the past year but flagged that foreign investors were bouncing back to the Korean stock market.

The uptrend is expected to last until the end of the first quarter of 2022 before starting to decelerate, but still above the 2% target.  

IKO.AX closed up 2.30%.

Source: FT