South Korea inflation sinks to near 16-year low

South Korea's inflation rate dipped further in March to the lowest level in nearly 16 years as falling oil prices stoked deflationary fears, state data showed Wednesday.
Consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in March from a year earlier -- compared to February's 0.5 percent, state-run Statistics Korea said.
Both were the lowest rate since July 1999 when inflation stood at 0.3 percent.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile oil and food prices, also decreased to 2.1 percent, compared to 2.3 percent in February.
An extended slump in global oil prices has framed the downward inflationary trend in Asia's fourth-largest economy, where overall transport costs were down nearly 10 percent in March from a year earlier.
South Korea imports all of its energy needs from overseas.
Inflation has remained far below the Seoul central bank's target of 2.5 to 3.5 percent for nearly three years.
It's descent below the 1.0-percent mark last December has fuelled concerns of Japanese-style deflation.
The central Bank of Korea last month announced a surprise 25 basis point cut in the key interest rate in a move to fend off deflation and help boost sagging domestic demand.
The bank in January slashed its economic growth forecast for this year to 3.4 percent from the previous 3.9 percent, citing slowing demand at home.