Koo Yun-cheol: "24-hour monitoring system will remain in place to respond to global uncertainty"

According to The Financial News, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Finance and Economy Koo Yun-cheol said on the 29th, "Given the global uncertainties such as concerns over a shutdown of the Federal government of the United States, unclear tariff policies, and geopolitical factors, the government, the Bank of Korea (BOK), the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), and other relevant institutions will work closely together, closely watching external conditions while keeping our 24-hour monitoring system in continuous operation."
Koo Yun-cheol convened a joint expanded Macroeconomic and Financial Meeting with relevant institutions at Government Complex Seoul that day and said, "Overnight, the Federal Reserve System (Fed) kept its policy rate unchanged through the FOMC," as he made these remarks.
Koo Yun-cheol explained, "Among the 12 Fed members who have voting rights on policy decisions, 10 voted to hold rates steady, indicating that the dominant view within the Fed was to keep rates unchanged," adding, "The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement assessed that economic activity is expanding at a solid pace and that there are some signs of stabilization in the unemployment rate, meaning its assessments of growth and employment have both improved."
He went on, "Powell said at the press conference that the inflationary impact of tariffs is likely to be one-off and that risks to employment and prices have somewhat diminished," noting, "He also stated that the Fed is currently in an appropriate position to wait and see incoming data before making judgments, and that rate hikes are not part of any member's baseline outlook."
Koo Yun-cheol stated, "In the early hours today, global financial markets viewed the outcome of the meeting as an interest rate hold in line with market expectations, and global government bond yields moved largely sideways," adding, "The domestic financial market is generally stable."
In particular, he noted, "Our stock market, supported by net buying from foreign investors, is recording the highest stock index gains among major countries for the second consecutive year," and added, "Korean Treasury Bond yields, which had risen due to factors such as the sharp increase in Japanese interest rates, are also gradually stabilizing."
Koo Yun-cheol stressed, "By accelerating productive finance and the advancement of our capital market, we will move beyond the Korea discount and usher in an era of Korea Premium," adding, "To this end, we will push to fundamentally enhance industrial competitiveness and continue to strengthen the structure of our capital market."
He continued, "This year we will begin support for the 30 trillion won National Growth Fund, boldly backing national strategic industries, the National AI Transformation Initiative, the Green Transformation Grand Transition (GX Grand Transition), and the Ultra-Innovative Economy Leading Project, while also supporting these efforts with regulatory improvements," adding, "We will actively pursue tax law revisions at the extraordinary National Assembly session in February to introduce tax-supported financial products such as the National Growth Fund for public participation, Business Development Company (BDC) vehicles, and the Reshoring Investment Account (RIA)."
Koo Yun-cheol also said, "We will swiftly correct the asymmetric domestic regulations on Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) products compared with overseas markets," and added, "We will continue to advance the capital market by improving corporate governance and establishing a fair market order."
He went on, "By completing revisions to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Restriction of Special Taxation in February, we will expand the cap on investment eligible for income deductions in the KOSDAQ Venture Fund and strengthen the competitiveness of the KOSDAQ Market by swiftly exiting non-viable firms to restore investor confidence," adding, "Through structural improvements in the foreign exchange and capital markets and by building an advanced investment environment, we will continue efforts to be included in the MSCI Developed Markets Index and will faithfully implement the process for inclusion in the World Government Bond Index (WGBI) over the eight months starting in April."

syj@fnnews.com Seo Young-jun Reporter