Kim Yong-beom, Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance: "Korea-US Currency Swap Will Serve as a Safety Net for the Foreign Exchange Market"

Kim Yong-beom, 1st Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Kim Yong-beom, First Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, said, "The $60 billion Korea-US currency swap agreement will serve as a solid safety net to stabilize the domestic foreign exchange market, which was affected by global financial instability."

At the 4th Innovation Growth Strategy Review Meeting and Policy Review Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office on the same day, Vice Minister Kim stated, "(The Korea-US currency swap) is twice the size of the one during the 2008 global financial crisis."

Vice Minister Kim emphasized, "Rather than succumbing to fear caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and participating in market instability and short-term overreactions, it is necessary to take a longer-term and calmer view of the market. The government will do its utmost to implement firm market stabilization measures and ensure the stability of people’s livelihoods according to changing circumstances. We will focus on 'speed' and 'coordination' as we review policies."

On the same day, Vice Minister Kim reviewed and discussed the performance of the COVID-19 support measures from stages 1 to 3, totaling 32 trillion won. Stage 1 includes emergency damage support measures by industry and sector, stage 2 is a comprehensive livelihood economy plan, and stage 3 is an additional supplementary budget (supplementary budget) of 11.7 trillion won.

Vice Minister Kim mentioned, "As a result of this week’s review of stages 1 and 2, some financial support tasks are experiencing delays in execution due to a sudden surge in on-site funding demand. The supplementary budget has passed the National Assembly and entered the full-scale execution phase, and the recently announced livelihood and financial stability package program worth 50 trillion won plus alpha will also be promptly implemented."

Regarding financial support, he stated, "Financial support for small business owners and self-employed individuals must be carried out with utmost speed. We will improve the current support delivery system to ensure that those who truly need assistance receive it at the right time, and we will make every effort to achieve this."

The government plans to expedite related tasks by having banks handle customer-facing operations through a business consignment contract between regional credit guarantee foundations and commercial banks, while the regional credit guarantee foundations will focus on screening tasks.

Additionally, by utilizing retired personnel from policy financial institutions to meet on-site manpower needs and expanding the scope and targets of indemnity, financial company employees will be able to provide support more actively without worrying about retrospective sanctions.

Regarding the supplementary budget, Vice Minister Kim said, "We have set the highest execution goal of spending more than 75% within two months," and added, "Since there are many voices feeling the support on the ground, we will reduce the gap between paperwork and the field through swift execution."

In conclusion, Vice Minister Kim said, "We must surely overcome the current global crisis successfully and turn it into an opportunity for growth. Relevant agencies will communicate closely and cooperate to ensure that necessary response measures are promptly activated, and we will spare no effort."

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