The Bank of Korea has slashed its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a record low of point-five percent.

The central bank held a monetary committee meeting on Thursday, cutting the rate by point-25 percentage points to boost the struggling Korean economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Bank of Korea on March 16 reduced the base rate to point-75 percent from one-point-25 percent in its first emergency rate cut since October 2008.

The central bank on Thursday also downgraded its GDP growth forecast for 2020 from two-point-one percent to minus point-two percent due to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was the first time in eleven years that the bank has predicted negative growth.