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Today (12th), the won-dollar exchange rate rose again, breaking the record high in 13 years.

The Bank of Korea will decide the base rate tomorrow, and there is a growing possibility that it will raise 0.5 percentage points at once for the first time ever.



Correspondent Kim Jung-woo.



<Reporter> The



won-dollar exchange rate jumped with the opening of the market at 9 am.



It broke through 1,316 won, the highest since the financial crisis in 2009, and ended up trading at 1,312.1 won, up 8.2 won from yesterday.



It is the result of the spread of anxiety in the market from the US.



The US Consumer Price Index for June is released tomorrow, as it is expected to hit a 40-year high.



It is expected to rise from 8.8% to 9%, higher than 8.6% in May, suggesting that raising interest rates so far has not been sufficient to catch inflation.



So it looks like the US central bank will meet in two weeks to decide on a big rate hike.



[James Blood / St. Louis Federal Bank Governor: If we have to set the base rate today, we will raise it by 0.75 percentage points.

I think the market is already accepting it that way.]



Some are even talking about a 1% point increase at a time.



[Cho Young-moo / LG Economic Research Institute Research Fellow: It is difficult to believe that the inflation rate has passed the peak, and the rate of interest rate increase in the United States is expected to be much faster than that of Korea, which is expected to be strong in the fall…

.]



In this situation, the Bank of Korea will decide the base rate tomorrow.



Even if the policy rate is raised by 0.5 percentage points for the first time in history, an 'interest rate inversion phenomenon' may occur because the US is expected to raise interest rates more steeply.



As they pursue the safe asset of the US dollar, more foreign investment flows out and there is even a forecast that the exchange rate will break through 1,350 won.



The Bank of Korea is deeply concerned about the situation in which an economic recession must be prevented while stabilizing prices and exchange rates.



(Video coverage: Jeong Seong-hwa, video editing: Jung Yong-hwa)