Consumer prices rise 2.2% in March on surging oil prices

Korea's consumer prices rose 2.2 percent in March from a year earlier, mainly due to a hike in global oil prices caused by prolonged tensions in the Middle East, government data showed Thursday. The reading, which hovers above the government's 2 percent inflation target, marks the steepest on-year increase since December, when inflation stood at 2.3 percent, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The latest rise was driven by a surge in the price of petroleum products, which jumped 9.9 percent from a year earlier, marking the sharpest increase since October 2022, when the price spiked 10.3 percent on-year amid the Russia-Ukraine war. Notably, diesel and gasoline prices jumped 17 percent and 8 percent on-year, respectively. Global oil prices have risen sharply as the Strait of Hormuz has effectively been closed since U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, disrupting global oil supplies. Korea relies heavily on imports for energy. Prices of agricultural, livestock and fishery products edged down 0.6 percent, mainly due to a sharp drop in agricultural product prices, which

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