SEOUL : South Korea's consumer prices are expected to rise in the range of 6 per cent in July for a second month, pushed up by farm products amid unfavourable weather conditions, vice finance minister Bang Ki-sun said on Friday.
The trade balance is expected to post a deficit for the month due to a surge in energy imports, Bang added. Economists expect the consumer price index to rise 6.3 per cent in July from a year earlier, the fastest pace in nearly 24 years, with the trade balance logging a deficit for a fourth consecutive month, according to a Reuters poll.