The Bank of Korea forecast that the country's consumer price index will rise 3.1 percent in 2022, higher than an increase of 2.0 percent estimated three months earlier.
The upward revision came as the consumer price inflation stayed above 3 percent for the fourth consecutive month, with 3.6 percent in January, 3.6 percent in December, 3.8 percent in November, and 3.2 percent in October.
The headline inflation topped the central bank's mid-term inflation target of 2 percent for 10 months on the higher supply-side inflationary pressure, driven by expensive crude oil and the global supply chain disruption.
The central bank froze its benchmark interest rate at 1.25 percent earlier in the day, but market watchers predicted a rate hike twice or three times by the end of this year amid the higher inflationary pressure.
Real gross domestic product was projected to expand 3.0 percent in 2022, unchanged from the estimate unveiled in November last year.
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