ID :
25553
Mon, 10/20/2008 - 14:11
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/25553
The shortlink copeid
BOK chief urges efforts for price stability
(ATTN: CORRECTS BOK chief's name in para 2)
SEOUL, Oct. 20 (Yonhap) -- Central banks around the world should put top priority on keeping their monetary policy from undermining price stability even though they face difficulties amid global financial turmoil, the head of South Korea's central bank said Monday.
"Even though central banks are confronted with... manifold difficulties, they
must do their utmost as far as circumstances allow, not to hurt the foundations
for price stability," Lee Seong-tae, governor of the Bank of Korea (BOK), said in
an opening address released in advance of an international seminar. "On this
basis, they can secure the effectiveness of their monetary policy."
The BOK will host the seminar on stagflation and price stability from Tuesday to
Friday in Seoul with officials from 25 central banks attending.
Lee added that shaping a preemptive monetary policy that takes into account
mid-and long-term macroeconomic trends is becoming increasingly difficult, as
uncertainty is mounting about the economic situation at home and abroad.
South Korea's foreign exchange market has been suffering from a dollar shortage
as banks and companies are scrambling to hoard the safer greenback on concerns of
a financial crisis sparked by the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers
Holdings Inc. A dollar shortage has pushed down the value of the won and local
stocks over the past few weeks.
The BOK slashed its key interest rate to 5 percent from 5.25 percent on Oct. 9 in
a concerted effort to soothe global financial turmoil and stem the drastic
slowdown of the local economy. It was the bank's first cut since November 2004,
marking the end of three years of monetary tightening.
The country's consumer prices slowed to 5.1 percent on-year in September on
falling oil prices, but breached the BOK's target range of 2.5-3.5 percent for
the 10th straight month.
He said the economic growth rate could fall further in the fourth quarter and in
the first half of 2009. In July, the BOK said the economy is likely to grow 3.9
percent in the second half.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Oct. 20 (Yonhap) -- Central banks around the world should put top priority on keeping their monetary policy from undermining price stability even though they face difficulties amid global financial turmoil, the head of South Korea's central bank said Monday.
"Even though central banks are confronted with... manifold difficulties, they
must do their utmost as far as circumstances allow, not to hurt the foundations
for price stability," Lee Seong-tae, governor of the Bank of Korea (BOK), said in
an opening address released in advance of an international seminar. "On this
basis, they can secure the effectiveness of their monetary policy."
The BOK will host the seminar on stagflation and price stability from Tuesday to
Friday in Seoul with officials from 25 central banks attending.
Lee added that shaping a preemptive monetary policy that takes into account
mid-and long-term macroeconomic trends is becoming increasingly difficult, as
uncertainty is mounting about the economic situation at home and abroad.
South Korea's foreign exchange market has been suffering from a dollar shortage
as banks and companies are scrambling to hoard the safer greenback on concerns of
a financial crisis sparked by the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers
Holdings Inc. A dollar shortage has pushed down the value of the won and local
stocks over the past few weeks.
The BOK slashed its key interest rate to 5 percent from 5.25 percent on Oct. 9 in
a concerted effort to soothe global financial turmoil and stem the drastic
slowdown of the local economy. It was the bank's first cut since November 2004,
marking the end of three years of monetary tightening.
The country's consumer prices slowed to 5.1 percent on-year in September on
falling oil prices, but breached the BOK's target range of 2.5-3.5 percent for
the 10th straight month.
He said the economic growth rate could fall further in the fourth quarter and in
the first half of 2009. In July, the BOK said the economy is likely to grow 3.9
percent in the second half.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
