South Korean consumers' confidence rose to the highest level in 13 months in June as the government's fiscal stimulus and the central bank's latest rate cut raised hopes for economic recovery, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Tuesday.

The consumer sentiment index (CSI) -- a gauge of consumers' overall economic outlook, living conditions and future spending -- came in at 105 for June, up from 104 tallied for the previous month, according to the BOK.

It marked the highest level since the index hit 106 in May last year.

The index stayed above the benchmark 100 for the sixth straight month in June, indicating that the number of optimists outnumbered that of pessimists. The survey, based on a poll of 1,979 households nationwide, was conducted from June 10-17.

The BOK delivered the first rate cut in seven months in May in a bid to support the government's drive for the economic stimulus.

The bill on creating a 17.3 trillion won ($14.9 billion) extra budget was approved in parliament in late May.

The sub-index measuring the current economic assessment came in at 82 for June, up from 79 tallied in May, the BOK noted.

The indicator gauging the interest rate forecast reached 90 for June, up from 84 in May, indicating that consumers believe that the economic recovery and the U.S. central bank's stimulus tapering would jack up interest rates.

BOK Gov. Kim Choong-soo told lawmakers last week that the 2013 economic growth may reach near 3 percent if Asia's fourth-largest economy grows 0.8 percent on-quarter in the second quarter as expected. In the first quarter, the local economy advanced 0.8 percent from three months earlier.

The governor said that the BOK is likely to revise up its 2013 growth projection in July from the current estimate of 2.6 percent. (Yonhap News)