Bank of Korea(BOK) Governor Rhee Chang-yong announced that the central bank intends to maintain its stance on steadily raising the key interest rate by 25 basis points while focusing monetary policies on fighting inflation.

The governor made the remark in a press conference on Thursday after the central bank's rate-setting committee unanimously voted to raise the key rate from two-point-25 to two-point-five percent.

Rhee said the decision was made after the panel assessed that the current economic situation, including inflation and growth, has not changed much from the July forecast.

He reconfirmed the bank’s intention to continue with 25-basis-point hikes, saying such forward guidance remains effective.

While stating that a big step of a 50-basis-point hike was not being considered, Rhee said market expectations that the BOK will raise the rate to two-point-75 to three percent by the year's end are “reasonable.”

The BOK chief also projected inflationary pressure in the five- to six-percent range to continue through early next year, but said inflation is likely to peak sooner than in the late third quarter or early fourth quarter as previously forecast.