Bank of Korea governor Kim Choong-Soo holding a gavel as he presided over the Monetary Policy Committee meeting at the bank's headquarters in Seoul yesterday. South Korea's policymakers increased the benchmark seven-day repo rate for July from two per cent to 2.25 per cent, the first rise since August 2008 in a bid to restrain inflation as Asia's fourth largest economy posts a solid recovery. The central bank cut rates by a total of 325 basis points between October 2008 and February 2009.