SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's import prices rose at a faster pace in August than a month earlier due to the local currency's depreciation against the U.S. dollar, the central bank said Friday.

In local currency terms, the country's import prices gained 10 percent in August from a year earlier, faster than a 9.8 percent on-year advance tallied in July, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said in a monthly report. From the previous month, import prices rose 0.5 percent last month, a turnaround from a 1.1 percent on-month fall a month before.

The South Korean won's depreciation versus the greenback attributed to the accelerating import price growth in August even after global commodity prices fell, according to the BOK.

Raw material import prices dropped 0.6 percent in August from the previous month, down from a 0.3 percent on-month decline recorded in July, the report showed. Agricultural product prices rose 2.1 percent on-month in August, but prices for imported mining products fell 0.9 percent over the same period.

Prices for imported intermediate goods increased 1 percent in August from the previous month as most intermediate product prices showed an on-month gain, according to the report. Prices of petroleum products fell 0.9 percent on-month in August, but prices for chemical products and steel products gained 1.2 percent and 1. 1 percent last month respectively.

In U.S. dollar terms, import prices advanced 19.8 percent in August from a year earlier, but the price growth slowed from a 23. 9 percent on-year jump in July, indicating that the South Korean won depreciated against the dollar.

Source:xinhuanet