Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said Monday that temporary price caps on fuel products will remain in place for some time due to instability in the Middle East.
Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol told reporters in Sejong on Monday that the government plans to maintain the measure for some time until the situation in the Middle East stabilizes.
The government introduced the price system in mid-March to curb inflation driven by surging global oil prices after the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February. Fuel price ceilings are reviewed every two weeks, and the latest adjustment announced Thursday froze them for the third consecutive review period.
The country's consumer prices rose 2.6 percent in April from a year earlier, mainly due to higher fuel costs linked to the conflict. Koo said South Korea has responded more effectively than many other countries to the inflationary pressure.
He also expected the economy to grow more than 2 percent in 2026, citing the first-quarter GDP expansion of 1.7 percent.
