Lee Ju-yeol Receives 'A' Grade from US Financial Magazine... Fed Chair Powell Gets 'A-'

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunbyeol Kim] Lee Ju-yeol, Governor of the Bank of Korea, received an A grade for the third consecutive year in the central bank governors' evaluation by the U.S. financial monthly magazine Global Finance.

According to Global Finance on the 13th, Governor Lee was among the 10 governors who received an A grade out of central bank governors from 102 countries this year. Besides Governor Lee, central bank governors from Brazil, Chile, Peru, Bulgaria, Australia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Kuwait, Morocco, and others received A grades.

Jerome Powell, Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), received an A- grade; Yi Gang, Governor of the People's Bank of China, received a C+ grade; and Haruhiko Kuroda, Governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), received a B grade.

Governor Lee first received an A grade in 2018 and has maintained the same grade for three consecutive years. The magazine had withheld judgment in his first year in office in 2014, then rated him B in 2015, B+ in 2016, and B in 2017.

Global Finance has been evaluating major central bank governors annually since 1994 based on achievements such as inflation control, economic growth rate, currency stability, and interest rate management, assigning grades from A to F. This year's evaluation covered performance from July 1 of last year to June 30 of this year.

Key measures by the Bank of Korea this year included a significant 50 basis points (1bp=0.01 percentage point) cut in the base rate to 0.75% on March 16, and an additional cut to a record low of 0.50% in May. Amid the government's economic stimulus measures through supplementary budgets, Governor Lee's statement that "if long-term interest rate volatility increases, we can actively purchase government bonds" was also highlighted as a major point.

Looking at the historical Global Finance evaluations of past Bank of Korea governors, Park Seung received A, B, and C grades consecutively from 2003 to 2005. Lee Sung-tae was rated D, B, B, and A from 2006 to 2009. Kim Joong-soo did not receive a grade in 2010 but was rated C, C, and B+ from 2011 to 2013.

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