Bank of Korea (BOK), South Korea's central bank, said Thursday that the economy is now facing uncertainties from Japan's expansionary policy, hinting that it worried about the weak yen's negative impact on local exporters.

"In terms of future growth patch, there are some potential uncertainties related to fiscal tightening in advanced countries and to the new Japanese government's expansionary policy operations," the BOK said in a statement unveiled right after the February rate-setting meeting.

The BOK kept the benchmark seven-day repurchase rate on hold at 2.75 percent, maintaining a wait-and-see stance for four straight months. The central bank reduced borrowing costs in July and October last year.

Bank of Japan (BOJ) planned to make Federal Reserve-type open- ended asset purchases beginning January next year, raising its inflation target by 1 percentage point to 2 percent. Since September, the yen has fallen more than 20 percent against the South Korean won, boosting concerns over weaker price competitiveness of South Korean exporters.

Touching on economic outlook, the BOK said in another statement that negative output gap in the domestic economy will persist for a considerable time due to the slow recovery of the global economy in consequence of the sluggishness of economic activities in the euro area.

The output gap, or the GDP gap, refers to the difference between potential GDP and actual GDP. The negative output gap means actual GDP growth stays below the one for potential GDP.

The BOK forecast that consumer price inflation will stay at a low level for the time being due to the weakening of demand-side pressures. The country's consumer prices rose 1.5 percent in January from a year earlier, remaining at a 1 percent range for three straight months.