South Korea's producer prices grew at the steepest pace in 28 months in March on the back of a hike in oil and commodity prices, the central bank said Friday, indicating growing inflationary pressure.

   The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, jumped 7.3 percent in March from a year earlier, up from

6.6 percent tallied the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

   It marked the fastest expansion since a 7.8 percent on-year gain tallied in November 2008, it added.

   Compared with the previous month, the producer prices rose 1.2 percent, picking up from a 0.7 percent on-month gain in February, it added.

   The prices of industrial goods rose 9.1 percent in March from the previous year, accelerating from a 7.8 percent on-year expansion in February, as oil costs jumped, the bank noted. The March numbers marked the fastest gain since 10.6 percent growth seen in November 2008.

   Oil prices have been on the rise amid jitters over ongoing political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa. South Korea, the world's fifth-largest purchaser of crude oil, relies entirely on imports for its oil needs.

   Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun said Thursday that the government is studying many ways including an oil tax cut in a bid to help ease higher oil costs as rising energy prices are feared to hurt the livelihood of low- and middle-income families.

   The data came as the BOK plans to hold a monthly rate-setting session on Tuesday. Despite growing inflationary pressure, analysts said the BOK is likely to freeze the rate this month at 3 percent due to increased economic uncertainty like Japan's quake.

   In March, the country's consumer prices jumped 4.7 percent from a year ago, the fastest growth in 29 months. Consumer inflation surpassed the upper ceiling of the BOK's 2-4 percent inflation target band for three months in a row.

   The BOK has raised the key interest rate by a combined 1 percentage points four times since July last year. (Yonhap News)