ID :
20000
Wed, 09/17/2008 - 15:24
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/20000
The shortlink copeid
U.S. financial woes to pose short-term risk to Korea: minister
SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Yonhap) -- The current U.S. financial breakdown will come as a short-term downside risk to South Korea's financial market and the government will monitor market conditions in close cooperation with related agencies, a top economic policymaker said Wednesday.
"In the short term, a contraction in the local financial market is expected," Finance Minister Kang Man-soo told lawmakers in the National Assembly. "With close cooperation with related agencies, we will do our best to secure market stabilization."
Kang's comments come as the local stock and currency markets dropped sharply Tuesday on reports that Lehman, once the fourth-largest investment bank in the U.S., filed for bankruptcy protection and another struggling investment giant, Merrill Lynch, will be taken over by the Bank of America (BOA).
South Korea's key stock index tumbled 6.1 percent to an 18-month low on Tuesday. On the same day, the won currency plunged to a 49-month low against the U.S. dollar.
Kang said that the BOA's takeover of Merrill Lynch will help remove market uncertainty to some extent but it will keep weighing down the overall financial market here in the short term.
He also emphasized that South Korea has enough foreign reserves to cope with shocks emanating from the U.S. financial fiasco, dismissing speculation that massive foreign massive capital flight could wreak havoc on the nation's economy.
"In the short term, a contraction in the local financial market is expected," Finance Minister Kang Man-soo told lawmakers in the National Assembly. "With close cooperation with related agencies, we will do our best to secure market stabilization."
Kang's comments come as the local stock and currency markets dropped sharply Tuesday on reports that Lehman, once the fourth-largest investment bank in the U.S., filed for bankruptcy protection and another struggling investment giant, Merrill Lynch, will be taken over by the Bank of America (BOA).
South Korea's key stock index tumbled 6.1 percent to an 18-month low on Tuesday. On the same day, the won currency plunged to a 49-month low against the U.S. dollar.
Kang said that the BOA's takeover of Merrill Lynch will help remove market uncertainty to some extent but it will keep weighing down the overall financial market here in the short term.
He also emphasized that South Korea has enough foreign reserves to cope with shocks emanating from the U.S. financial fiasco, dismissing speculation that massive foreign massive capital flight could wreak havoc on the nation's economy.
