Vice Minister Ki Jae: "New Coronavirus, Anxiety Will Persist for a While... Monitoring Coolly" (Update)

Rapid Execution of 20.8 Billion KRW Quarantine Response Budget... Contingency Fund Support if Needed

Kim Yong-beom, the 1st Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, is delivering opening remarks at the 2nd Innovation Growth Strategy Review Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office Building's Cabinet Members' Cafeteria on the 31st. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Kim Yong-beom, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, stated on the 31st regarding the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia), "The impact on the domestic market is expected to continue for the time being until anxiety related to the infection is alleviated."

On the same day at the Government Seoul Office, Vice Minister Kim said, "In the domestic financial market, overall volatility is expanding, such as stock prices falling and the won-dollar exchange rate rising."

He added, "Rather than having excessive anxiety about the impact of this incident on the financial market, it is necessary to calmly monitor the related situation with a longer-term perspective."

He said, "During past outbreaks such as SARS and MERS, financial market instability also appeared, but recovery was seen as government responses were strengthened," and added, "Currently, external soundness such as foreign exchange reserves and net external claims has greatly improved to a level difficult to compare with the past."

Regarding the impact on the real economy, he said, "Depending on the progress of the infection, it is not possible to rule out the possibility of a negative impact on the domestic economy as global economic activities and expectations for economic improvement shrink," and "We will thoroughly inspect and analyze the ripple effects on China and the global economy, as well as the potential impacts on the real economy such as exports, tourism, and consumption."

The government is currently conducting 24-hour monitoring of various risk factors in domestic and international financial markets, including the novel coronavirus infection, developments in the Middle East region, and US-China relations, centered on the current situation response team.

Additionally, it is swiftly executing a quarantine response budget of 20.8 billion won and plans to utilize a 2 trillion won contingency fund if additional needs arise. Furthermore, price monitoring of medical supplies such as masks will be strengthened, and a notice banning hoarding will be promptly enacted by early February.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.