SEOUL - South ‌Korea's central bank stood pat on interest rates on Thursday and signalled policy would stay unchanged for the next six months as a chip ​boom in exports and steady inflation allow policymakers more time to assess financial stability risks.

The won strengthened to the highest level against the dollar since ​October ​last year after the bank raised this year's growth forecast and introduced a new forward-guidance path on policy that reinforced market bets for a pause in rates until at least August this year.

"They are conditional views made ⁠at this point in time, and the interpretation is that there is only a small possibility of an increase or decrease for at least six months," Governor Rhee Chang-yong said in a press conference after the Bank of Korea voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.50%, as polled by Reuters.

The central bank introduced the Federal Reserve's dot plot style ​chart for the first ‌time on Thursday ⁠that shows where the policy ⁠interest rate would be in the next six months. Of the 21 dots, 16 were at 2.50%.

It also raised this year's GDP ​growth forecast to 2.0% from 1.8% previously, citing stronger-than-expected chip exports.

"Today’s meeting provided no ‌compelling evidence to alter our base case for the BoK to keep the ⁠policy rate unchanged throughout 2026," said Krystal Tan, an economist at ANZ.

The won was trading up 0.34% at 1,422.9, after strengthening past 1,420 per dollar to hit its highest level since Oct. 30, 2025.

South Korea's policy-sensitive three-year treasury bond yield fell as much as 8.6 basis points to 3.035%, the lowest since January 15.

The BOK recently signalled a prolonged pause in its easing cycle that began in October 2024 as it navigates currency market volatility and risks from swelling household debt.

The central bank sees Asia's fourth-largest economy growing significantly faster this year than in 2025, helped by a chip boom led by Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix , it said in a report on Monday.

The rosy economic outlook defies ‌trade uncertainties sparked by unpredictable shifts in U.S. tariff policies, which could dampen export ⁠growth and destabilise key sectors such as automobiles and steel.

"The new dot plot ​was dovish than expected as there were four dots at a lower rate level (2.25%)," said Ahn Jae-kyun, an analyst at Korea Investment Securities.

"Having said that, today's meeting helped calm the local bond market somewhat" Ahn said, referring to the three-year treasury yields which spiked to ​a 1-1/2-year high ‌earlier this month.

On Wednesday, the benchmark KOSPI topped the 6,000-mark for the first time, extending ⁠its world-beating rally even after doubling in value in ​the past year.

(Reporting by Cynthia Kim and Jihoon Lee; Editing by Sam Holmes and Shri Navaratnam)