south koreas headline inflation slowed in august after six months of accelerating but still remained well above the central banks target the benchmark consumerprice index gained 57 in august from a year earlier after the prior months 63 surgethe fastest pace since in november 1998 said the statistical office friday extended fueltax cuts and mild crude price growth helped ease inflation in the country in august but still higher prices of food and other commodities could continue to add to inflationary pressure in the coming months according to analysts the latest reading was below a median market forecast of a 61 increase for august but well above the central banks targeted 2 compared with the prior month the index edged down 01 in august compared with the market expectations for a 03 rise that followed the prior months 05 gain core cpi which strips out volatile energy and food prices rose 40 from a year earlier and 03 from a month ago in august following the gains of 39 and 04 respectively in july the bank of korea last week raised its inflation forecast significantly the bank now expects inflation to average 52 for 2022faster than its earlier estimate of 45 the central bank in august raised the base rate by 25 basis points following an outsized 50basispoint increase in july to fight inflation signaling that it would tighten policy further in the coming months inflation averaged 25 in 2021 and 05 in 2020 in south korea