Deputy Minister Ki Jae: "If False Information Inducing Panic Selling Is Detected, Investigation Will Be Requested (Update)"

January Consumer Price Trends Rise from 0.4% to 1.5%... "Clear Signs of Economic Improvement"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Kim Yong-beom, the 1st Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, stated on the 4th, "We will strengthen monitoring of accounts suspected of spreading false information that causes market anxiety and induces panic selling, as well as unfair trading, and will request investigations for detected violations."

On the same day, Kim held an expanded macroeconomic and financial meeting at the Government Seoul Office and said, "We plan to respond strongly and strictly to market disruption activities."

He emphasized, "If financial and foreign exchange market instability expands, we will respond swiftly and decisively. Should speculative movements cause excessive one-sided swings in the exchange rate, we will firmly implement market stabilization measures."

Regarding the real economy, he diagnosed, "There are concerns about negative impacts on our economy through three main channels: a decrease in inbound tourists, contraction in domestic demand, and export declines due to economic downturns in affected countries."

He added, "We have formed and activated response teams by ministry covering all sectors potentially affected, including Chinese local businesses, exports, foreign investment, food and lodging industries, tourism, logistics, small and medium enterprises, small business owners, and regional economies, to inspect the actual conditions on the ground."

He noted, "With strengthened risk aversion and preference for safe assets, overall volatility is increasing. Major countries' stock prices and government bond yields are falling, centered on China, and emerging market currencies such as the yuan are weakening."

He continued, "In the U.S. bond market, an inversion between 3-month and 10-year Treasury yields has appeared intraday, and prices of raw materials such as crude oil and copper are also declining." Furthermore, he said, "At times like these, rather than being trapped in excessive pessimism, we must calmly and rationally review the fundamentals of the financial market and the underlying economy."

The government also plans to respond firmly to stabilize the supply and prices of medical supplies such as masks. He said, "Currently, related ministries and local governments have formed joint inspection teams to closely monitor supply and price conditions," and added, "We will not tolerate market disruption acts that hold public safety hostage, such as collusion and hoarding." He expressed, "If unfair practices are detected, we will strictly enforce administrative and criminal penalties according to relevant laws."

Regarding the consumer price trends in January, he emphasized, "Reflecting the rise in oil and agricultural, livestock, and fishery product prices, inflation rose sharply from 0.4% last year to 1.5%. Domestic real indicators are showing increasingly clear signs of economic improvement."

He said, "January exports increased by 4.8% year-on-year on a daily average basis, marking a turnaround to growth after 14 months since November 2018," and added, "Production, consumption, and facility investment have also continued a triple increase for two consecutive months in November and December." However, he urged, "If the novel coronavirus situation does not end early and worsens or prolongs, the impact on domestic and international economic activities could become apparent, so securing momentum for economic recovery as soon as possible is more important than anything."

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