ID :
26745
Mon, 10/27/2008 - 09:31
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/26745
The shortlink copeid
Lee orders measures to stave off slump in real economy
(ATTN: UPDATES with more details and a consensus on interest rate cut from 4th para) By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak instructed his economic policymakers on Sunday to implement further tax reductions and expand the government's fiscal expenditures to prevent the ongoing financial crisis from spilling over into the real economy, Lee's spokesman said.
Lee, while presiding over an emergency meeting of top government economic
officials, called for concerted nationwide efforts to regain the confidence of
foreign and domestic investors in the South Korean economy and financial markets,
said presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan.
The president also ordered his Cabinet ministers to double their efforts to
consolidate international policy coordination by faithfully following up on a
number of bilateral and multilateral agreements reached at the just-ended
Asia-Europe Meeting summit, said the spokesman.
"The government has to push ahead with additional tax cuts and expansion of its
fiscal spending to ensure that the financial crisis would not lead to a slump in
the real economy," the president was quoted as saying.
"Under the current circumstances, global sentiment towards the Korean economy and
its market circumstances is very critical. Foreign investors, as well as the
Korean people, should be given a full explanation of the government's economic
policies and their expected benefits."
President Lee, who returned home Saturday night after attending the ASEM summit
in Beijing, convened the emergency economic policy at the presidential office
Cheong Wa Dae to map out countermeasures to domestic financial market upheavals.
The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, Finance Minister Kang
Man-soo, Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Seong-tae, Financial Services
Commission Chairman Jun Kwang Woo and Bahk Byung-won, senior presidential
secretary for economic policy.
Amid worsening financial turmoil worldwide, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock
Price Index on Friday plummeted below the 1,000-mark for the first time since
June 30, 2005, while the Korean currency has declined almost 34 percent to the
U.S. dollar so far this year.
According to presidential secretary Bahk, President Lee and other meeting
participants shared the view that the nation's market interest rate should be
further lowered to help lessen financial burdens on debt-heavy small businesses
and households, as well as to minimize bad debts in the hands of local financial
institutions.
"Participants in the Cheong Wa Dae meeting agreed that the market interest rate
should be further stabilized to avert a slump in the real economy and revitalize
the sluggish business conditions," Bahk said in a media briefing.
Bahk's remarks immediately raised speculation that the BOK is set to carry out an
additional interest rate cut, following the reduction of its benchmark interest
rate by a quarter percentage point to 5 percent on Oct. 9.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak instructed his economic policymakers on Sunday to implement further tax reductions and expand the government's fiscal expenditures to prevent the ongoing financial crisis from spilling over into the real economy, Lee's spokesman said.
Lee, while presiding over an emergency meeting of top government economic
officials, called for concerted nationwide efforts to regain the confidence of
foreign and domestic investors in the South Korean economy and financial markets,
said presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan.
The president also ordered his Cabinet ministers to double their efforts to
consolidate international policy coordination by faithfully following up on a
number of bilateral and multilateral agreements reached at the just-ended
Asia-Europe Meeting summit, said the spokesman.
"The government has to push ahead with additional tax cuts and expansion of its
fiscal spending to ensure that the financial crisis would not lead to a slump in
the real economy," the president was quoted as saying.
"Under the current circumstances, global sentiment towards the Korean economy and
its market circumstances is very critical. Foreign investors, as well as the
Korean people, should be given a full explanation of the government's economic
policies and their expected benefits."
President Lee, who returned home Saturday night after attending the ASEM summit
in Beijing, convened the emergency economic policy at the presidential office
Cheong Wa Dae to map out countermeasures to domestic financial market upheavals.
The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, Finance Minister Kang
Man-soo, Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Seong-tae, Financial Services
Commission Chairman Jun Kwang Woo and Bahk Byung-won, senior presidential
secretary for economic policy.
Amid worsening financial turmoil worldwide, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock
Price Index on Friday plummeted below the 1,000-mark for the first time since
June 30, 2005, while the Korean currency has declined almost 34 percent to the
U.S. dollar so far this year.
According to presidential secretary Bahk, President Lee and other meeting
participants shared the view that the nation's market interest rate should be
further lowered to help lessen financial burdens on debt-heavy small businesses
and households, as well as to minimize bad debts in the hands of local financial
institutions.
"Participants in the Cheong Wa Dae meeting agreed that the market interest rate
should be further stabilized to avert a slump in the real economy and revitalize
the sluggish business conditions," Bahk said in a media briefing.
Bahk's remarks immediately raised speculation that the BOK is set to carry out an
additional interest rate cut, following the reduction of its benchmark interest
rate by a quarter percentage point to 5 percent on Oct. 9.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)
