We're going to get a growth rate down.Interest rates are 'freezing' due to 'currency rate' instability

[Anchor]
Tomorrow (28th), the Bank of Korea's Monetary Policy Committee will announce its last key interest rate of the year along with its growth forecast.

Although it is inevitable to lower growth rates as even trusted exports falter, interest rates are widely expected to be frozen due to currency instability.

I'm reporter Lee Hyungwon.

[Reporter]
Inflation has been stable around 1% for the second month.

The surge in household debt and housing prices, which made the government hesitate to cut the benchmark interest rate, has also slowed.

In the meantime, the economic outlook has deteriorated.

Domestic demand recovery still slow,

Even exports, our economic support, are faltering.

Under these circumstances, the growth rate in the third quarter has declined to 0.1%.

This is why it is inevitable to revise the previous forecast, which predicts growth of 2.4% this year and 2.1% next year.

[Lee Chang-yong / Governor of the Bank of Korea (audit on state affairs last month): Since it just dropped from 0.5 (expected) to 0.1 (actually) in the third quarter, I think it will fall by 2.3 or 2.2 in the annualized rate, depending on the fourth quarter....]

In this way, the domestic situation is urging interest rates to be cut, but external variables are not easy.

The won-dollar exchange rate, which is around 1,400 won, continues to be unstable.

In addition, the recent U.S. Federal Reserve's mention of adjusting the pace of interest rate cuts is also burdensome to the Bank of Korea.This is because if the interest rate gap between South Korea and the U.S. grows amid

{strong dollar', it could lead to a large outflow of funds overseas.

[Lee Jung-hwan / Professor of Economics and Finance at Hanyang University] I think it is right to lower interest rates for domestic consumption, but there is a high possibility that the foreign exchange market is rising rapidly and that the U.S. is unlikely to lower interest rates faster than expected..]

As a result, the outlook for a 3.25% annual freeze is dominant, but the prevailing analysis is that cuts will be inevitable if next year's growth forecast falls to the 1% range.

I'm Lee Hyungwon of YTN.