.
Korea's Finance Minister vows to take measures to stabilize market volatility if necessary
South Korea's finance minister stepped up his warning on Monday after the won extended its decline against the dollar to its lowest in a year and a half, saying the government was ready to take action against any renewed volatility in the currency market. "We will act swiftly according to our contingency plan and will do whatever is necessary to deal with any excessive volatility in the foreign exchange and other financial markets," Choi Sang-mok said at an urgently convened policy meeting to discuss escalating tensions in the Middle East. He also said the government would extend the fuel excise tax cut for two months until the end of June in an effort to curb inflation amid escalating global geopolitical risks.
Cynthia Kim reported
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's finance minister stepped up his warning on Monday that the government was ready to act against any renewed volatility in the currency market after the South Korean won extended its fall against the dollar to its lowest point in a year and a half.
"We will act swiftly in accordance with our contingency plan and will play whatever role is necessary to deal with any excessive volatility in the foreign exchange and other financial markets," Choi Sang-mok said at an urgently convened policy meeting to discuss the escalating tensions in the Middle East.
He also said that amidst escalating global geopolitical risks, the Government would extend the fuel excise duty reduction policy for two months until the end of June in an effort to curb inflation.
The remarks came as Iran fired explosive drones and missiles at Israel late Saturday, the first time Iran has directly attacked Israeli territory, a repetitive strike that has triggered a wider wave of violence in the region.
The Korea Money Market opens at 0:00 GMT.
(Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Ed Davies)
English 
Chinese