Ko Seung-beom, Nominee for Financial Services Commission Chairman, Indicates Strengthening DSR Regulations on Secondary Financial Institutions

"Household Debt Management, the Most Important Responsibility... Will Be Pursued Strongly and Quickly"

Ko Seung-beom, Nominee for Chairman of the Financial Services Commission [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Candidate for Financial Services Commission Chairman Ko Seung-beom reiterated, "I believe managing household debt is the most important responsibility entrusted to the Financial Services Commission Chairman at this time, and if appointed, I will prioritize this as my top agenda."

The Financial Services Commission announced on the 18th that Candidate Ko made these remarks during discussions on household debt the previous day.

Candidate Ko stated, "Excessive credit growth leads to the creation and collapse of bubbles, which deteriorates the soundness of the financial sector and the function of financial intermediation, potentially harming real economic growth," adding, "It is extremely urgent at this point to eliminate macroeconomic risks arising from household debt."

He continued, "When implementing policies, we must always consider ways to maximize their effectiveness," and expressed, "If appointed as Financial Services Commission Chairman, I will 'strongly and swiftly promote' all measures to stabilize household debt."

Candidate Ko said, "While vigorously implementing the previously announced household debt management measures, we will continue efforts to enhance their effectiveness and actively discover and promote additional measures using all available policy tools if necessary."

In particular, he emphasized, "We must quickly establish lending practices based on repayment ability," and added, "It is necessary to closely examine whether the schedule for strengthening the borrower-based total debt service ratio (DSR) regulation, planned to be gradually expanded by July 2023, is appropriate, and whether the loose DSR regulation level in the secondary financial sector might cause a balloon effect. If needed, supplementary measures should be prepared."

Meanwhile, Candidate Ko has been focusing on sharing and discussing his views on major issues such as household debt, virtual currency, and financial consumer protection with the heads of relevant departments since this week, following last week's comprehensive work reports from each country division of the Financial Services Commission.

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