luckyphoenixmegaways|S. Korea's consumer sentiment improves for 2nd month in July

SEOULluckyphoenixmegaways, July 24 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's consumer sentiment improved for the second straight month due to export growth and expectations for interest rate cuts, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI), which gauges the sentiment of consumers over economic situation, advanced 2.7 points over the month to 103.6 in July after rising 2.5 points in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Export grew 5.1 percent in June from a year earlier, continuing to increase for the ninth consecutive month.

Expectations ran high for the central bank to cut its policy rate later this year amid the lower inflationary pressure.

The BOK had left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.50 percent since January 2023.

Inflation expectations, which measure the outlook among consumers over headline inflation for the next 12 months, slipped 0.1 percentage point from a month earlier to 2.9 percent in July.

After peaking at 4.7 percent in July 2022, the inflation expectations had roughly been on the decline.

The results were based on a survey of 2,291 households conducted from July 10 to July 17.■

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