S. Korea's finance ministry pledges measures against inflation

South Korea's finance ministry on Thursday pledged efforts "on all fronts" to stem inflationary pressure in the face of rising prices of everyday essentials and raw materials.

The government will seek stability in its macroeconomic management and make comprehensive efforts not to encourage inflation expectations stemming from rising prices, the finance ministry said in its monthly Green Book report.

The ministry attributed rising inflationary pressure to fluctuations in commodities prices and ample global liquidity, while predicting a continuous overall recovery in the world economy despite existing geopolitical and financial risk factors.

The vow was echoed by the Bank of Korea, which said, in a separate monetary policy report released on the same day, that stabilizing prices tops the policy agenda this year.

The central bank has set its inflation target for the 2010-2012 period at between 2 percent and 4 percent, and raised its key interest rate twice last year to 2.5 percent from a record-low 2 percent in an attempt to rein in inflation.

Source:Xinhua