South Korea inflation quickens on one-off factor, still lower than expected

SEOUL, Sept 2 : South Korea's consumer inflation quickened in August on a one-off factor of low-base effects, government data showed on Wednesday, still coming in lower than expectations. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.1 per cent in August from a year earlier, after rising 2.8 per cent in July, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. That compared with a median forecast for a 3.2 per cent increase in a Reuters poll of economists. Prices of public services rose 6.5 per cent, driven by a one-off factor of 26.7 per cent jump in mobile service fees due to temporary price discounts in August last year. Petroleum prices were up 14.2 per cent, after rising 15.5 per cent in July. Without the one-off effect of mobile service fees, inflation would have been weaker at 2.5 per cent, t