SEOUL, May 4 Reuters Bank of Korea board members said the bank shouldnt be in a rush to tighten monetary policy despite an expected pickup in the economy due to uncertainties over COVID19, minutes of its April meeting released on Tuesday showed.

Considering still huge uncertainties related to the coronavirus and vaccines, it seems too early to discuss the normalization of monetary policies, a board member said at the boards April 15 meeting.

The BOK on April 15 kept the sevenday repurchase rate unchanged at 0.5, as expected, amid concerns that rising coronavirus cases could derail the economic recovery.

A majority of board members expected inflation to accelerate to around the 2 level, but at least two stressed that stronger inflationary pressures may not change the picture on the rate outlook as the job market remains weak. nL1N2MQ2IB

The BOK sees the economy expanding at 3 to 4 this year after contracting by 1.0 in 2020.

Reporting by Cynthia Kim; editing by Richard Pullin

Source Reuters