South Korea's central bank froze its policy rate at a record low of 1.25 percent on Thursday amid rising expectations for additional rate cut, caused by the soaring cases of the COVID-19 for the past week.

Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol and six other monetary policy board members decided to leave the benchmark seven-day repurchase rate unchanged at 1.25 percent.

The target rate was slashed to the current record-low level in October last year, following the cut from 1.75 percent to 1.50 percent last July.

The rate freeze was in line with market expectations. According to the Korea Financial Investment Association (KFIA) survey of 200 fixed-income experts conducted on Feb. 12-18, 81 percent predicted the rate on hold.

Expectations ran higher for further rate cut as the COVID-19 infection cases surged for the past week.

As of 9:00 a.m. local time, the number of infected patients totaled 1,595, up 334 from the previous day. The death toll was unchanged at 12.

The virus infection soared in the past week, with 1,230 new cases reported on Feb. 19-26. The country raised its four-tier virus alert to the highest "red" level on Sunday.

The BOK said in a statement that South Korea's economic growth weakened, noting that consumption contracted and exports slowed owing to the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak.

To help small companies prevail over the economic slump, the central bank will offer 5 trillion won (4.1 billion U.S. dollars) more of low-rate loans through domestic commercial banks.

The BOK governor told a televised press conference that there was a possibility for the South Korean economy to have a negative growth in the first quarter, saying the further rate cut would be decided by how long the COVID-19 epidemic continues.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered government officials on Monday to draw up a supplementary budget to tackle the expected economic slowdown. The country's 2020 budget was a record 512.5 trillion won (421.3 billion U.S. dollars).

Amid the surging COVID-19 cases, sentiment among businesses and consumers worsened this month.

The business sentiment index (BSI) dived 10 points over the month to 65 in February, marking the biggest monthly fall since the data began to be compiled in 2003.

The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) declined 7.3 points to 96.9 in the month. The readings below 100 indicates pessimists outnumbering optimists.

The daily average export slumped 9.3 percent for the first 20 days of February compared with the same period of last year.

The finance ministry said in its monthly economic assessment report, called Green Book, that the signs of economic recovery emerged in recent months, but it was released before the fast spread of the COVID-19.

Revenue of discount outlets and online retailers increased 7.3 percent and 3.3 percent each in January from a year earlier, though department store sale inched down 0.3 percent last month.

Production in all industries grew 1.4 percent in December from a month earlier, with retail sale rising 0.3 percent in the month.

Facility investment jumped 10.9 percent in December, with investment in the construction sector adding 4.1 percent.

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