HSBC economists say AI is likelier to produce direct inflation in South Korea, where upstream hardware suppliers are concentrated. Bottlenecks in high‑tech components and logistics are pushing up producer prices in those upstream markets. HSBC expect

2026-07-20

HSBC economists say AI is likelier to produce direct inflation in South Korea, where upstream hardware suppliers are concentrated. Bottlenecks in high‑tech components and logistics are pushing up producer prices in those upstream markets. HSBC expects the Bank of Korea may need to tighten policy and forecasts one more rate hike by year‑end, with upside risk of further tightening into 2027 depending on how strongly AI-driven export growth transmits to domestic activity.