South Korea's consumer prices grew at 2.6 percent in April, staying below the 3 percent mark for a third consecutive month, a government report showed Monday.
According to the report by Statistics Korea, South Korea's consumer price index (CPI) in April posted a 2.6 percent year-on- year gain, up from a 2.3 percent growth in March.
The report showed core inflation, excluding oil and food prices, marked a 1.5 percent increase from a year ago, unchanged from the previous month.
With regard to the current stabilizing price moves, the government agency pointed to the stronger won, which kept prices in a stable mode by lowering import costs, it said.
For the year 2010, the government predicts that South Korea's economy will grow around 5 percent on the back of its price stabilizing efforts.
The latest inflation rate remains within the central bank's target range of between 2 percent and 4 percent until 2012./.