韩国8月CPI因通信费基数效应升至3.1%，政府称核心压力约2.5%并推出节日稳价措施

South Korea's consumer inflation accelerated to 3.1% last month, but the government estimated the underlying rate would have been around 2.5% without a base effect from mobile phone fee discounts a year earlier. Ahead of the Chuseok holiday, the government will also roll out measures to stabilize consumer prices, including 103 billion won in support for discounts on agricultural, livestock and fishery products.
Kang Ki-ryong, deputy minister for economic policy at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, presided over a meeting of price-related ministries and the first session of a government-wide task force on practices that harm household welfare on the 2nd. "A temporary half-price mobile phone fee discount implemented for one month in August last year worked as a large base effect this year, pushing August prices up 3.1% from a year earlier," he said.
Mobile phone fees rose 26.7% from a year earlier last month, according to consumer price data released the same day by the national data agency.
In August last year, mobile phone fees were 21.0% lower than a year earlier. Because fees were steeply discounted at the time and then returned to normal levels, the year-earlier comparison base pushed this August's increase relatively higher.
The effect stems from SK Telecom (017670), which cut fees by 50% for more than 20 million subscribers — its entire customer base — for one month last year in response to a mass exodus of users following a hacking incident. That discount is now showing up as a base effect in price data a year later.
Without the mobile phone fee discount effect, the government estimated consumer inflation last month would have stayed at about 2.5%.
The oil price ceiling program, by contrast, worked to hold inflation down. According to a government analysis, the program lowered overall consumer inflation by 0.5 percentage point last month. That means inflation could have risen to 3.6% had the program not been in place.
The government is also pushing measures to ease food price burdens ahead of Chuseok. It will spend 103 billion won to support sales of agricultural, livestock and fishery products at discounts of up to 40% to 50%, and will supply a total of 183,000 tons of 19 holiday staples.
At 300 traditional markets nationwide, shoppers will also be able to receive 30% of their spending on agricultural, livestock and fishery products back in Onnuri gift certificates. The refund is capped at 20,000 won per person.
To ease holiday funding pressure for small business owners and small and medium-sized enterprises, the government will supply 43.4 trillion won. It will also provide 480 billion won in policy financing over the next two months for low- and middle-income households and vulnerable groups.
Support to cushion transport and production costs from high oil prices will also be extended. Fuel-linked subsidies for compressed natural gas and diesel used by trucks, passenger vehicles and coastal cargo ships, as well as tax-free fuel for farmers and fishers, will continue through the end of this year.