SEOUL, April 5 (Reuters) – South Korea’s finance minister on Tuesday said the country will expand the tax cut on oil products by 30%, from the current 20%, for three months to minimise the impact of soaring energy prices due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said “inflation is the most important and serious issue at the moment,” adding that the government will step up efforts to minimise its impact in the face of relentless price pressures.
Data on Tuesday showed South Korea’s consumer inflation accelerated to 4.1%, the fastest increase since 2011, fuelled by rising energy and commodity prices. nP8N2UZ014
(Reporting by Joori Roh
Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
((joori.roh@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 6936 1493;))
This article originally appeared on reuters.com