South Korea's central bank left the key interest rate unchanged at a record low of 1.5 percent Thursday in an apparent bid to prevent the fallout from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak from hurting the economy.

The July decision is in line with a poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency, in which all 17 analysts and economists projected the BOK would freeze the key rate to monitor the impact of previous rate cuts and ease household debt risks.

Last month, the Bank of Korea's Monetary Policy Committee voted to cut the base rate by a quarter percentage point, sending the policy rate lower by a total of 1 percentage point since August last year.

The MERS outbreak has claimed 35 lives so far, sparking a health scare and dampening consumer spending, one of the nation's growth engines.

Growing household debt, which reached a record 1,099 trillion won ($968 billion) as of end-March, is also a policy headache in Asia's fourth-largest economy as it is feared to constrict consumption and potentially spur financial risks.

The polled analysts and economists forecast the rate freeze to continue until the end of the year as the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to start hiking its rates later this year. (Yonhap)