Gov't to 'closely' monitor market conditions: finance minster

SEOUL, Feb. 25 (Yonhap) -- The government will "closely" monitor financial market
conditions and take swift action to ease anxiety amid deepening global
uncertainty, a top economic policymaker said Wednesday.
"Currently, global uncertainty is intensifying, making it almost impossible to
predict what will happen at the next moment," Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun
told a weekly crisis management meeting.
"With external factors remaining out of our control, we must closely monitor
their developments. We will also take action in a swift manner if needed to ease
market anxiety," he added.
The remarks come as South Korea's stock and currency markets tumbled in recent
days, hard hit by fluctuations on Wall Street and other advanced countries. The
won plunged to its lowest level in nearly 11 years on Tuesday and the nation's
main stock index also lost ground on massive foreign sell-offs.
Market jitters have deepened further over a chunk of foreign currency-denominated
bonds set to mature in March, with fears that banks will not be able to pay back
the debts amid a dollar shortage.
Yoon dismissed the rumors, saying that Japanese capital is not big enough to
affect the financial markets.
"Borrowings from Japan that are set to mature in the first quarter amount to less
than US$2 billion and Japanese capital in local stocks and bonds stand at around
2 percent and 0.6 percent of the total foreign investment," Yoon said. "The
so-called March crisis scenario has little evidence to support it."
The minister emphasized the importance of exports in ongoing efforts to overcome
the global challenge, saying the recent plunge in the won's value can be helpful
in bolstering the country's growth engine if it is well managed.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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