BOK extends US$20 bln currency swap agreement with BOJ till end-April

SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's central bank extended a US$20 billion
emergency currency swap agreement with the Japanese central bank by three months
to the end of April to help stabilize the local financial market, the Bank of
Korea (BOK) said Tuesday.
The South Korean won-Japanese yen currency swap line was expanded to $20 billion
from $3 billion in mid-December 2008 as the BOK and the Bank of Japan (BOJ)
agreed to provide emergency currencies at a fixed rate to help stabilize volatile
foreign exchange markets.
The agreement was later extended twice to be effective until Feb. 1.
The latest extension announced on Tuesday will make the facility effective until
April 30 and is "expected to contribute to stabilizing the financial market in
the region," the BOK said in a statement.
The currency swap extension came after the BOK announced the closure of a similar
arrangement with the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The $30 billion currency swap line with the U.S., which was forged in October
2008 and later extended twice, will expire on Feb. 2, the Fed said last December.
The termination came as the local financial market showed strong signs of
normalization after the South Korean won suffered its steepest depreciation in a
decade against the U.S. dollar between late 2008 and early last year.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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