SEOUL (REUTERS) - South Korea's economic policies should focus on stabilising consumer inflation and managing household debt as higher interest rates have made repayments more onerous, President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday (Feb 8), with just a few months left in office.

Presiding at a Cabinet meeting, Mr Moon said consumer price pressures are building, which could hurt household finances at a time when interest payments for households are also higher following the Bank of Korea's back-to-back policy rate hikes.

"Our utmost priority should be on stabilising prices for staple goods for our citizens, and I ask for timely deployment of various policies to stabilise prices," Mr Moon said.

South Korea's consumer inflation hovered near a decade high in January and remained above the central bank's 2 per cent target for the 10th straight month, as surging food and energy prices pushed prices higher.

A presidential election is set for March 9, and Mr Moon will leave office on May 9, having served the single term permitted under South Korea's Constitution.