South Korea’s central bank leaves policy rate unchanged, as expected

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate steady on Thursday, holding off on more stimulus to help the economy as policymakers keep a lid on red-hot property prices.

The Bank of Korea’s Monetary Policy Board held the benchmark interest rate at the current record low of 0.50%, as expected by all 30 analysts in a Reuters poll.

Thursday’s decision follows a 25 basis point reduction in May, the fourth cut in the current easing cycle.

Governor Lee Ju-yeol will hold a news conference at around 0220 GMT, which will be livestreamed via YouTube.

(Reporting by Joori Roh, Cynthia Kim; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)