Vice Minister Ki Jae: "Responding to Ensure Financial Market Instability Does Not Affect the Real Economy"

Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance Lee Okwon to Hold 'Macroeconomic and Financial Review Meeting' on the 23rd

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Lee Okwon, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, stated on the 23rd, "We will strengthen monitoring to ensure that financial market instability does not negatively impact the real economy, and thoroughly prepare to proactively implement market stabilization measures when necessary."

On the same day, Lee held a macroeconomic financial review meeting and said, "We plan to closely communicate with related ministries and agencies to carefully examine the domestic and international economic and financial situations and response measures."

At the meeting, key domestic and international issues such as the release of the July minutes of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), tapering (reduction of quantitative easing) trends, domestic foreign stock funds, and exchange rate trends were reviewed.

Recently, the KOSPI index fell from 3202.3 at the end of last month to 3060.5 by the third week of this month. The won-dollar exchange rate rose from 1150.3 won to 1179.6 won during the same period, showing increased market volatility. Regarding this, the Ministry of Economy and Finance analyzed that the recent decline in memory semiconductor spot prices and concerns over early tapering have overlapped to produce this effect.

Lee emphasized, "Despite some expansion in domestic financial market volatility, considering the domestic and international market conditions and the fundamentals of the Korean economy, there is no need to overreact."

He added, "Our economy's external credibility and external soundness are excellent, and fiscal soundness is maintained at a level better than major countries, demonstrating solid economic fundamentals. The performance of KOSPI-listed companies in the first half of this year also improved significantly compared to the same period last year."

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