Govt. eyes freezing utility prices in H1 to ease household burden

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said Wednesday that the government will work to keep utility prices from rising throughout the first half of the year to help mitigate the financial burden on households. "The government will absorb cost increases as much as possible through cost-cutting measures and self-restructuring efforts to keep public utility fees, including electricity, gas and rail service rates, unchanged in the first half of the year," Choi said while presiding over a meeting with economy-related ministers. South Korea has been grappling with a prolonged economic slowdown, which has added pressure on the public.

In March, consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 2.1 percent from a year earlier, while electricity, gas and water prices increased 3.1 percent on-year, according to government data.



"We will strive to manage public utility fees as stably as possible," Choi said, emphasizing communication through the interior ministry to ensure price stability in local government-managed utilities. (Yonhap).