SEOUL, Jan 11 Reuters South Korea39;s central bank on Thursday hinted it may pivot towards monetary easing along with its global peers, sending bond futures up after a widelyexpected decision to keep its policy interest rate unchanged for an eighth meeting.

The Bank of Korea BOK held its benchmark rate at 3.50 at a policy review in Seoul, an outcome correctly forecast by all 38 economists polled by Reuters.

Crucially, the central bank also dropped language from its previous statement that said it will 39;judge the need to raise base rate further,39; in its strongest hint yet of a shift towards policy easing after delivering a total of 300 basis points of hikes since mid2021.

In financial and foreign exchange markets, longterm Korean Treasury bond yields have fallen due to expectations of a pivot in monetary policy stances both at home and abroad, the BOK said in the statement, and added that risks related to real estate project financing have heightened.

At a postpolicy press conference, Governor Rhee Changyong pushed back on growing market expectations for any nearterm BOK rate cuts, when asked about the timing of monetary easing.

My personal view is that I see little chances of any rate cuts for the next six months, Rhee said.

Any premature rate cut could reignite inflation expectations which could adversely affect the economy by triggering expectations about a property market boom, rather than work to support growth.

South Korea39;s policysensitive threeyear…