Finance minister to check liquidity of local banks

SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Yonhap) -- Finance Minister Kang Man-soo will hold a meeting with the top executives of local banks on Monday to check on their U.S. dollar liquidity, as financial institutions and firms feel the pinch amid deepening economic turmoil, a ministry official said Sunday.

At the meeting, Kang will ask the banks to cooperate with government measures to
help small- and medium-sized companies cope with financial difficulties and
losses from currency fluctuations, the official said.
Last week, the South Korean won fell to a 65-month low as global investors
continued to withdraw from South Korean markets on the heels of the U.S.'s
approval of a $700 billion Wall Street bailout.
On Thursday, Kang said it is "appropriate" to use the nation's foreign exchange
reserves to prevent the won from dropping further and ensure the market has ample
dollar liquidity.
So far this year, the won has lost more than 20 percent against the dollar.