S.Korea's headline inflation rebounds in October

South Korea's headline inflation marked the first rebound in three months last month on surging utility costs that offset slower increase in oil products price, statistical office data showed Wednesday.

The consumer price index (CPI) stood at 109.21 in October, up 5.7 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.

After peaking at 6.3 percent in July, the consumer price growth slowed to 5.7 percent in August and 5.6 percent in September before turning around in October.

The consumer price inflation had been on the rise earlier this year, with 4.1 percent recorded in March, 4.8 percent in April, 5.4 percent in May, and 6.0 percent in June.

The headline inflation has topped the Bank of Korea (BOK)'s mid-term target of 2 percent for 19 months in a row.

To curb the high inflation, the BOK began to hike its benchmark interest rate in August last year, raising the rate in eight steps from a record low of 0.5 percent to 3.0 percent.

Expectations run high for the BOK's further rate hikes later this year as the U.S. Federal Reserve has been forecast to take another giant step this week by lifting its key rate by 0.75 percentage points to a range of 3.75-4.00 percent.

The higher inflation in October was driven by a sharp gain in utility costs despite the slower increase in oil products price.

Price for electricity, natural gas and tap water surged 23.1 percent in October from a year earlier, logging the fastest rise since relevant data began to be compiled in 2010.

The utility costs raised the overall inflation by 0.77 percentage points last month. Electricity bill gained 18.6 percent, while natural gas charges and heating costs soared over 30 percent last month.

Price for industrial products, including oil products, climbed 6.3 percent in October, slowing down in recent months with the increase of 8.9 percent in July, 7.0 percent in August and 6.7 percent in September.

Oil products price picked up 10.7 percent in October, after advancing 39.6 percent in June, 35.1 percent in July, 19.7 percent in August and 16.6 percent in September.

Diesel price spiked 23.1 percent last month, but gasoline price fell 2.0 percent, recording the first slide this year.

Processed food price gained 9.5 percent in October after rising 8.4 percent in August and 8.7 percent in September.

Price for agricultural, livestock and fishery products was up 5.2 percent in October on a yearly basis.

Vegetable price soared 21.6 percent, and those for pork and imported beef picked up 3.3 percent and 6.3 percent respectively.

Pent-up demand following eased anti-coronavirus measures boosted services prices, especially eating-out costs.

Private services price, including eating-out costs, increased 6.4 percent in October from a year earlier, marking the highest in over 24 years since April 1998.

Expense for dining out jumped 8.9 percent, and insurance services cost advanced 14.9 percent. Public services price added 0.8 percent last month.

Housing rent, including Jeonse and monthly rent, climbed 1.7 percent in October from a year ago.

Jeonse is South Korea's unique contract between two households where a landlord grants a two-year residential right to a tenant, who in turn lends a certain amount of money, or deposit, to the landlord.

The livelihood items index, which gauges price for daily necessities, rose 6.5 percent in October from a year earlier, unchanged from the growth rate in September.

The fresh food index, which measures price for fish, shellfish, fruit and vegetable, increased 11.4 percent in October, down from a gain of 12.8 percent in the previous month.

Demand-side inflationary pressures have mounted on pent-up demand following eased anti-coronavirus measures.

Core consumer price, which excludes for volatile agricultural and oil products, spiked 4.8 percent in October on a yearly basis, logging the highest in over 13 years since February 2009.

The OECD-method core price, excluding volatile energy and food costs, gained 4.2 percent last month.