Citigroup: South Korea's Central Bank may cut interest rates faster and by a larger margin

Golden Finance reported that Jin-Wook Kim, an economist at Citigroup, said in a report that the Central Bank of Korea may cut interest rates faster and more significantly to deal with the weaker-than-expected economic rise. Kim said that it is expected that the Central Bank of Korea may cut interest rates by 25 basis points in January, April, and July 2025 respectively. Earlier, the Central Bank of South Korea lowered the Benchmark Interest Rate from 3.50% to 3.25% on October 11, initiating an accommodative monetary policy. This is one month earlier than Citigroup’s previous forecast, Kim added. He pointed out that the Central Bank may also cut interest rates twice in 2026 - possibly in January and July - bringing the policy Interest Rate down to 2.00%, lower than Citigroup’s previous forecast of 2.50%.