Import prices dip for 18th month in Feb.

The nation’s import prices fell for the 18th straight month in February as oil prices declined amid the local currency's gain per the dollar, the central bank said Wednesday.

In local currency terms, the country's import prices declined 4.8 percent in February from a year earlier, compared with a 3 percent on-year fall in January, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It marked the 18th straight month of on-year declines in import prices since September 2012 when such prices dipped 2.2 percent on-year.

Prices of Dubai crude, South Korea's benchmark, dropped 5.5 percent in February from a year earlier, according to the central bank.

The local currency gained 1.41 percent against the U.S. dollar in February compared with the previous year.

The import prices gained 0.8 percent last month from the previous month, a turnaround from a 0.3 percent on-year decline in January.

The data came as the BOK is slated to hold its monthly rate-setting meeting on Thursday. The central bank is widely expected to freeze its key interest rate at 2.5 percent for the 10th straight month.

In local currency terms, South Korea's export prices fell 3.6 percent on-year last month after dropping 1.9 percent in January.

Export prices rose 0.7 percent in February from the previous month, compared with a 0.1 percent on-month gain in January, the central bank said. (Yonhap)