Koo Yun-cheol: "If oil tops $120, alternate-day driving rules will extend to private cars"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Koo Yun-cheol stated on the 29th that if international oil prices surge above 120 dollars per barrel, the government could expand alternate-day driving restrictions based on license plate numbers to private vehicles. At present, the scheme is mandatory only for government offices and public institutions.
Appearing on the KBS Sunday Diagnosis Live program the same day, Koo said, "If the high oil price situation becomes more serious, we will have to raise the crisis level to around Level 3, the 'alert' stage." He continued, "At that point, consumption will also need to be curbed, and we believe we should ask for public cooperation and introduce the restrictions." He indicated that the currently voluntary participation by the private sector could be made mandatory.
As of the 27th, West Texas Intermediate crude oil (WTI) closed at 99.64 dollars per barrel, Dubai crude oil at 109.82 dollars, and Brent crude oil at 105.32 dollars, up by more than 5 percent from the previous day at maximum. Koo stressed that the government is making every effort to ease the burden of high oil prices.
He also said the government would accelerate the execution of the 25 trillion won supplementary budget. Regarding the government’s supplementary budget proposal, Koo explained that support would focus on four main areas: responding to high oil prices, livelihood support for small business owners, self-employed workers, logistics and delivery workers, and young people, as well as industrial support and stabilizing supply chains.
On concerns that high oil prices and a strong dollar, combined with the supplementary budget, could fuel inflation, Koo said, "According to analysis by the Bank of Korea (BOK), the impact on price increases will not be significant."
On March 15, the BOK noted that the economy was so weak that real gross domestic product was running below potential GDP, and therefore even if the government injected funds through a supplementary budget, it was unlikely that consumption or investment would rise sharply enough to push prices up.
skjung@fnnews.com Jeong Sang-geun Reporter