South Korea's central bank froze its key rate for the 13th straight session Thursday as household debts continue to increase and inflation keeps slowing down. In a widely expected decision, the monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea (BOK) kept its policy rate unchanged at 3.5 percent, according to South Korea's News Agency (Yonhap). The BOK has continued to stand pat following rate freezes since February last year after delivering seven consecutive rate hikes from April 2022 to January 2023. The rate freeze came as household debt runs high in the face of a series of lending rate hikes and with tighter lending rules and inflationary pressure in Asia's fourth-largest economy showing signs of easing. Earlier, the central bank said conditions are ripening for a policy pivot, although it remains vigilant against soaring household loans. South Korea's inflation picked up pace in July on high prices of fruits and petroleum products, though it stayed below 3 percent for the fourth consecutive month. Consume r prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 2.6 percent on-year last month, compared with a 2.4 percent increase a month earlier, marking the first time in six months that the price growth accelerated. The rate freeze also came as the central bank trimmed its growth projection for the year to 2.4 from its outlook of a 2.5 percent expansion estimate in May. Source: Qatar News Agency