South Korea inflation cools, but back-to-back rate hike not ruled out

SEOUL, Aug 4 : South Korea's consumer inflation softened to a three-month low in July, coming in below market expectations on a fall in oil prices, though policymakers remained wary of upward pressures and markets did not rule out a possible back-to-back rate hike this month.The consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.8 per cent in July from a year earlier, after rising 3.2 per cent in June, data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics showed on Tuesday. That was weaker than a median 3.0 per cent increase tipped in a Reuters poll of economists. Over the month, the index fell for the first time in eight months, down 0.2 per cent, as prices of petroleum products dropped 5.5 per cent. Economists had expected a rise of 0.1 per cent, the same pace as in the previous month. "Upward price pressures, i