S.Korea raises policy rate by 50 bps to 2.25 pct

SEOUL, July 13 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's central bank on Wednesday raised its policy rate by 50 basis points to 2.25 percent.

It was the first time that the Bank of Korea (BOK) hiked its key rate by half a percentage point, and marked the third consecutive hike this year after the central bank lifted the rate by 25 basis points in April and in May.

The BOK set off its tightening monetary policy since Augu