S. Korean central bank cuts key rate to 3 pct

By Kim Soo-yeon
SEOUL, Dec. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's central bank lowered its key interest
rate by a record one percentage point on Thursday, the fourth rate cut in two
months, in an effort to bolster the slowing economy.
In a monthly policy meeting, the Bank of Korea (BOK) slashed the benchmark
seven-day repo rate to a record low of 3 percent. The previous lowest level was
3.25 percent set in early November 2004.
Before Thursday's move, the BOK had cut the rate by a combined 1.25 percentage
points to 4 percent since early October this year in a bid to keep global
financial turmoil from impacting the real economy.
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