Vice Minister Ki Jae: "Severe COVID-19 Spread... Increased Volatility in Domestic and International Financial Markets"

Macroeconomic and Financial Meeting Held on the 13th

Lee Eok-won, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, is speaking at the 'Macroeconomic Financial Meeting' held on the 13th at the Bankers' Hall conference room in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] On the 13th, the government diagnosed that the number of confirmed cases worldwide is increasing due to the impact of COVID-19 variants, causing some expansion in volatility in the global financial markets. The domestic financial market is also influenced by the global market, and with the start of the 4th wave, volatility is increasing, making risk management important, the government urged.

Lee Eok-won, 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, held a macroeconomic financial meeting in the morning at the Bankers Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul, attended by key financial institution officials, stating, "Recently, volatility in stock prices has increased due to mixed concerns about the slowdown in economic recovery caused by the spread of variant viruses and expectations for corporate earnings improvement," and analyzed, "U.S. Treasury yields have also fallen to their lowest levels since the end of February, indicating that overall volatility in international financial markets has somewhat expanded."

Regarding the domestic real economy, he said, "While exports and investment continue to show favorable trends, and leading economic indicators, sentiment, and preliminary indicators maintain a positive flow, the overall recovery trend continues," but expressed concern, "Recently, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases has surged, and social distancing levels have been raised, making the COVID-19 situation severe." Additionally, he added, "The domestic financial market is influenced by fluctuations in the global financial market, and volatility has somewhat increased due to domestic concerns about the spread of COVID-19."

However, the Vice Minister stated, "Our real economy has shown a rapid recovery so far, and the solid external soundness limits the extent of fluctuations," and added, "Since uncertainties related to variant viruses remain, the possibility of increased volatility in financial markets cannot be excluded, so we plan to strengthen monitoring of financial markets and risk factors."

He emphasized, "At this critical time to maintain the hard-won economic recovery phase and completely overcome the COVID-19 crisis, risk management is more important than anything else," and said, "We will continuously review measures that can be activated according to different situations."

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