President Moon's First Special Meeting on Economic and Financial Situation... Bank of Korea Governor Also Attends

Cheong Emergency System Activated, Bank of Korea Temporary Monetary Policy Meeting... Temporary Short Selling Ban and COVID-19 Response Measures Under Review

[Asia Economy reporters Ryu Jeong-min, Son Seon-hee, Park Ji-hwan, Jang Se-hee] On the 13th, President Moon Jae-in held a 'Special Economic and Financial Situation Inspection Meeting' at the Blue House to discuss response measures to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) crisis. This special inspection meeting was held for the first time since President Moon took office.

This was also the first time that Lee Ju-yeol, Governor of the Bank of Korea, attended a meeting presided over by President Moon, indicating that the government has entered an emergency response system for the overall economy.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This is closely related to the emergency situation in the overall economy, such as the domestic and international stock markets plummeting after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic. The Blue House, related ministries, and even the Bank of Korea have joined forces to establish an all-out system to respond to COVID-19.

At the inspection meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo, and Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo participated on behalf of the government. They discussed solutions covering the entire economy, including current issues such as the supplementary budget and measures to stabilize the stock and financial markets amid COVID-19.

In this regard, the Bank of Korea discussed holding an emergency Monetary Policy Committee meeting on the morning of the same day. A Bank of Korea official said, "Currently, discussions are underway among the Monetary Policy Committee members regarding the necessity of an emergency meeting," adding, "We will notify again once the decision to hold the meeting is finalized."

Financial authorities, seeing that the domestic financial market has not stabilized despite the temporary expansion of designated short-selling overheated stocks, are preparing to take additional market stabilization measures. The Financial Services Commission held an emergency meeting chaired directly by Chairman Eun in the morning to review policies necessary for market stabilization.

In the market, measures such as a temporary ban on short selling, stock market stabilization funds, and tax-exempt long-term stock funds are being discussed. Among these, the implementation of a temporary short-selling ban appears to be the most likely.

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