South Korea's producer prices fell for the eighth straight month in March as global oil prices continued to remain weak amid still sagging domestic demand, central bank data showed Monday.

The producer price index, a barometer of future consumer inflation, reached 101.80 in March, tumbling 3.7 percent from the previous year, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.

The March result was largely attributed to a sharp drop in oil prices.

Prices of coal and petroleum products fell 32.7 percent on-year in March, decelerating from a 35.5 percent fall in February.

The index that covers agricultural goods such as vegetables fell 0.9 percent on-year last month, while that of utility fees fell 6.6 percent over the period, according to the data.

The data came after the central bank downgraded its economic growth forecast for 2015, citing the weaker-than-expected recovery pace of Asia's fourth-largest economy.

Earlier this month, the bank cut its growth forecast for this year to 3.1 percent from an earlier 3.4 percent estimate, the central bank's second revision of the growth prediction in three months.

In January, the BOK lowered its growth forecast to 3.4 percent from 3.8 percent.

The central bank also sharply slashed its inflation forecast to 0.9 percent from 1.9 percent.

South Korea's consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in March from a year earlier, the slowest pace in nearly 16 years, according to government data.

It is the fourth month in a row that consumer inflation has grown below the 1 percent mark, well below the government's 2 percent growth target for this year. (Yonhap)