Yoo Sang-dae, New Deputy Governor of BOK, Says "Won-Dollar Exchange Rate Volatility Will Decrease"

Yoo Sang-dae, the newly appointed Deputy Governor of the Bank of Korea, mentioned on the 21st that the volatility of the won-dollar exchange rate, which has recently fluctuated around the 1,340 won level, is expected to gradually decrease.

On the day of his inauguration, Deputy Governor Yoo visited the press room and said, "Our economy is externally dependent, and when there are various non-economic factors such as the pandemic or war, concerns about the foreign exchange market are sometimes reflected more than necessary," adding, "From my long experience observing the foreign exchange market, although volatility in the exchange rate has recently increased, I expect it to gradually decrease."

Regarding the Special BoGeumjari Loan, which is cited as a major cause of the increase in household debt, he said, "I expect adjustments to be made." Deputy Governor Yoo explained, "Last year, the Anshim Conversion Loan started with a housing price cap of 600 million won, but since housing prices in the metropolitan area rose so much, there were criticisms that it was discriminatory compared to other regions, so the cap was raised to 900 million won. As the price cap increased, the Housing Finance Corporation's BoGeumjari Loan was combined to create the Special BoGeumjari Loan."

He continued, "It seems that more people recently perceive that the housing market has hit bottom," and said, "Although it is not about the limit or target of the Special BoGeumjari Loan, I believe adjustments will be made."

Regarding risks originating from China, he said, "China has a controlled economy, but there are concerns that it could become like Japan due to real estate issues, while some believe it is different from Japan, so we need to observe a bit more," adding, "Since Chinese tourists will be coming in the second half of the year, I believe there are both upward and downward risks that the Chinese economy could have on our growth and inflation."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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