As new cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) continue to pop up in South Korea, the country's central bank cut its policy rate Thursday by 25 basis points to a record low of 1.50 percent.
Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol said "we decided to cut rates today in a pre-emptive move to contain the economic fallout from MERS" on the same day 14 more cases were confirmed by authorities. Since a 68-year-old businessman brought MERS back to South Korea after a trip to Saudi Arabia, 122 cases have been reported and nine people have died, Reuters reports. All of the cases have been traced back to the original patient.
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