Korea's import prices fall at fastest clip in 4 months in September

South Korea's import prices declined at the fastest pace in four months in September as the local currency rose against the U.S. dollar, the central bank said Friday. In local currency terms, the country's import prices declined 8.1 percent in September from a year earlier, larger than a 5.3 percent on-year fall in August, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). It marked the 13th straight month of on-year declines in import prices since September last year when such prices dipped 2.2 percent on-year. The September data also marked the steepest on-year decline since May when import prices fell 9.7 percent from a year ago. The Korean won appreciated 3.44 percent to the greenback in September compared with a year earlier. Compared with a month earlier, the import prices fell 2.3 percent in September, a turnaround from a 0.6 percent on-month gain in the previous month. In local currency terms, South Korea's export prices fell 4.6 percent on-year last month after dropping 2.2 percent in August. The September data marked the sharpest decline in four months. The export prices shed 2.4 percent in September from the previous month, compared with a 0.7 percent on-month fall in August, the BOK noted. The data came one day after the BOK froze the key interest rate at 2.5 percent for the fifth straight month.