Bank of Korea Gov. Shin Hyun-song said the central bank could have raised interest rates at last month's Monetary Policy Board meeting but held off because the trend was uncertain and it was reasonable to wait for more data.
Shin made the remarks Thursday morning at a press briefing following the board's monetary policy decision, responding to a question about whether the May decision to keep rates unchanged amounted to a missed opportunity. "It was not a missed opportunity," he said.
"Looking at the situation alone, we could have raised rates preemptively, but we did not because we had not yet obtained sufficient data," Shin said. "With the Middle East situation unsettled, we judged it was fine to wait and observe once more — and I still think that way."
Shin added that data received since May had shown stronger-than-expected growth momentum. "At the time of the August outlook, there will be an opportunity for a considerable upward revision," he said.
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