(LEAD) Consumer inflation slows to 41-month low in August

South Korea's consumer prices slowed to the lowest level in nearly 3 1/2 years in August on easing prices of farm produce and global oil, data showed Tuesday. Consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 2 percent on-year last month, compared with a 2.6 percent on-year rise a month earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. August's figure marked the slowest increase since March 2021, when consumer prices grew 1.9 percent. It was also the fifth consecutive month that the price growth stayed below 3 percent. In January, inflation slowed to 2.8 percent, dropping below 3 percent for the first time since July 2023, but edged up to 3.1 percent in February and stayed at the same level the following month before cooling to 2.9 percent in April. The figure then fell to 2.5 percent in May and 2.4 percent in June before rising to 2.6 percent in July. The government has said that the country is projected to reach the target rate of 2 percent by around the end of 2024. The finance ministry expects t his year's prices to rise 2.6 percent. Source: Yonhap News Agency