south korea’s headline inflation eased for a fourth consecutive month in may to hit a 19month low justifying the central bank’s pause in policy tightening aimed at curbing price growth the benchmark consumerprice index gained 33 from a year earlier in may–the weakest pace since october 2021–after rising 37 in preceding month the country’s statistics office said friday the may reading matching the median forecast from the wall street journal poll of nine economists–was still above the central bank’s 20 target compared with the prior month the index gained 03 in may following the prior month’s 02 increase core cpi which strips out volatile food and energy prices rose 39 from a year ago and 03 from a month earlier in may it had gained 40 on year and 03 on month in april the bank of korea in may kept its base rate unchanged at 350 for a third consecutive policy meeting and lowered its growth forecast for this year the bank’s policy is seen as gradually shifting to supporting growth amid signs that the economy is losing steam