S. Korea, China agree to expand currency swap

SEOUL, Oct. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Finance Minister Kang Man-soo and his
Chinese counterpart Xie Xuren agreed Friday to expand their bilateral currency
swap program in a manner that helps the two nations better respond to global
financial turbulence, Seoul officials said.
Currently, the both nations hold US$4 billion for currency swaps aimed at
providing necessary dollars to each other in case of a liquidity crunch. The need
is now growing for expanded currency swaps in the Asian region as the global
financial crisis rocks local markets.
The two made the broad agreement at a meeting held in Beijing earlier in the day,
and details will be further discussed, they added.
During the meeting, the ministers shared the opinion that both governments should
adopt appropriate macroeconomic policies and take proper measures "in a
preemptive, decisive and sufficient manner" to stabilize the financial markets.
The two also emphasized the importance of further enhancement of regional
cooperation, while pledging to work with other ASEAN+3 members to expedite the
process of turning the Chiang Mai Initiative into a multilateral scheme for a
regional joint currency fund, the officials said.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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