![Lee Ji-ho, deputy governor of the Bank of Korea, speaks at a press briefing on the inflation target operating status. [Bank of Korea]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/08/04/news-p.v1.20260702.853f3232d4f74cdc8cb2ec4978e90a2c_P1.jpg)
The Bank of Korea said Tuesday it expects consumer price inflation in August to rise above July's level, largely due to a base effect from large-scale telecom fee discounts offered by some mobile carriers last year.
Lee Ji-ho, deputy governor of the Bank of Korea, made the remarks at an inflation monitoring meeting held at the central bank Tuesday morning, noting that July's consumer price inflation had slowed compared with June, driven by a reduction in the ceiling price of petroleum products and a fall in agricultural prices.
On July inflation, Lee said the lifestyle price index — which is heavily weighted toward petroleum and agricultural, livestock and fishery products — fell sharply to 2.5 percent. However, he said core inflation edged higher as the pace of price increases for durable goods widened due to the pass-through of cost shocks.
Lee went on to say that government price-stabilization measures are expected to act as a downward force on consumer prices going forward, even as uncertainty related to the Middle East war remains high.
He added that the Bank of Korea would monitor the inflation situation with heightened vigilance, given expectations that core items will continue to post elevated inflation rates amid the pass-through of cost shocks and broadening demand-side pressures.
The Ministry of Statistics said Tuesday that the consumer price index stood at 119.77 (base year 2020=100) in July, up 2.8 percent from a year earlier — returning to the 2-percent range for the first time in three months after climbing to 3.1 percent in May. The food and energy-excluded index, a key measure of core inflation, rose 2.6 percent, its largest increase since December 2023, when it gained 2.8 percent.
kimstar@heraldcorp.com
