The Bank of Korea decided at its Monetary Policy Committee meeting on the 16th to raise the policy rate by 0.25 percentage points to 2.75 percent. This is the first rate hike in three and a half years since January 2023, marking a policy shift toward monetary tightening in response to accelerating inflation. The consumer price index rose 3.2 percent in June from a year earlier, and the won has also been weakening. Additional rate hikes are expected going forward, with some pointing to the possibility that the policy rate could rise to 3.5 percent by the first half of next year.