Seoul  - South Korea's central bank on Friday kept its key interest rate at 2 per cent for the eighth consecutive month, as the country's recovery from the global downturn had yet to prove sustainable.

Bank of Korea had lowered its seven-day repo rate by 3.25 percentage points to a record low of 2 per cent between October and February in an attempt to stop South Korea's fall into recession.

South Korea's economic activities were following the global recovery, the bank said, but "uncertainties lingered."

The gross domestic product of Asia's fourth-largest economy grew by 2.6 per cent in the second quarter, compared with the first three months of the fiscal year. However, GDP fell 2.2 per cent year-on-year in the three months from April to July. (dpa)