South Korea's central bank said Thursday that it cannot rule out the possibility of inflation running high for a longer period due to sky-high energy prices that could further rise amid heightened geopolitical risk from Ukraine.

In a report submitted to the National Assembly, the Bank of Korea (BOK) also said that the country's exports growth could slow slightly this year due to continued global supply chain disruptions but the impact of the ongoing war in Ukraine will not be significant in affecting its global sales.

"In the case that inflation is running higher than our target range and the sentiment for inflation expectations get unstable, we cannot rule out the possibility of inflation staying high for a long period of time due to interaction between income and prices," the report said.

"The possibility is high that (our economy) can be exposed to upward risks on prices, such as a spike in energy prices caused by the Ukraine standoff and strong food costs," it added.

The report noted that upward inflation pressure from global supply disruptions could ease as the pandemic subsides but a reshuffle in the global value chains could drive prices up in a structural manner going forward. (Yonhap)