ID :
26699
Sun, 10/26/2008 - 19:58
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/26699
The shortlink copeid
Lee summons emergency policy meeting to cope with financial crisis
By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency meeting of top economic policy planners and advisers at the presidential office Sunday morning to map out countermeasures to ongoing financial market upheavals, presidential aides said.
Lee and his economy-related ministers and policy advisers were discussing
measures to address panic in the nation's foreign currency and stock markets,
according to the aides. The meeting is set to continue through lunchtime.
The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, Finance Minister Kang
Man-soo, Bank of Korea Governor Lee Seong-tae, Financial Services Commission
Chairman Jun Kwang Woo and Bahk Byung-won, senior presidential secretary for
economic policy, according to the presidential aides.
President Lee returned home Saturday night after attending the Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM) summit in Beijing.
Amid worsening financial turmoil worldwide, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock
Price Index plummeted 110.96 points, or 10.57 percent, to 938.75 on Friday,
dropping below the 1,000-mark for the first time since June 30, 2005.
The local currency closed at 1,422 won to the dollar, down 13.2 won from
Thursday's close, as investor sentiment was hurt by sharp falls in local stocks
and growing concerns over the market's negative impact on the real economy. The
Korean currency has declined almost 34 percent to the greenback so far this year.
"Korea's economic fundamentals are solid, but the financial markets and investors
have reacted excessively sensitively to some external factors. President Lee and
his advisers will thus discuss how to calm the psychological unrest and implement
a proper mix of policies to restore confidence across the board," said a
presidential aide.
"In addition, President Lee and the top government officials will discuss
follow-up measures to a number of bilateral and multilateral agreements reached
at the ASEM summit as part of efforts to fight the world financial crisis," he
said.
Lee concluded his ASEM diplomacy with calls for concerted global efforts to
overcome the financial crisis and for a sweeping reform of global financial
organizations, including the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
The president also expressed high expectations for the Group of 20 financial
summit slated for mid-November in Washington D.C., saying that the upcoming
summit meeting must generate "substantive and productive" results through closer
consultations between emerging and advanced economies.
On Friday, Lee met in Beijing with leaders of China, Japan and 10 member states
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, producing an agreement to create a
US$80 billion joint fund by next June and to push for the establishment of a
regional economic surveillance organization to ensure greater financial stability
in Asia.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency meeting of top economic policy planners and advisers at the presidential office Sunday morning to map out countermeasures to ongoing financial market upheavals, presidential aides said.
Lee and his economy-related ministers and policy advisers were discussing
measures to address panic in the nation's foreign currency and stock markets,
according to the aides. The meeting is set to continue through lunchtime.
The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, Finance Minister Kang
Man-soo, Bank of Korea Governor Lee Seong-tae, Financial Services Commission
Chairman Jun Kwang Woo and Bahk Byung-won, senior presidential secretary for
economic policy, according to the presidential aides.
President Lee returned home Saturday night after attending the Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM) summit in Beijing.
Amid worsening financial turmoil worldwide, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock
Price Index plummeted 110.96 points, or 10.57 percent, to 938.75 on Friday,
dropping below the 1,000-mark for the first time since June 30, 2005.
The local currency closed at 1,422 won to the dollar, down 13.2 won from
Thursday's close, as investor sentiment was hurt by sharp falls in local stocks
and growing concerns over the market's negative impact on the real economy. The
Korean currency has declined almost 34 percent to the greenback so far this year.
"Korea's economic fundamentals are solid, but the financial markets and investors
have reacted excessively sensitively to some external factors. President Lee and
his advisers will thus discuss how to calm the psychological unrest and implement
a proper mix of policies to restore confidence across the board," said a
presidential aide.
"In addition, President Lee and the top government officials will discuss
follow-up measures to a number of bilateral and multilateral agreements reached
at the ASEM summit as part of efforts to fight the world financial crisis," he
said.
Lee concluded his ASEM diplomacy with calls for concerted global efforts to
overcome the financial crisis and for a sweeping reform of global financial
organizations, including the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
The president also expressed high expectations for the Group of 20 financial
summit slated for mid-November in Washington D.C., saying that the upcoming
summit meeting must generate "substantive and productive" results through closer
consultations between emerging and advanced economies.
On Friday, Lee met in Beijing with leaders of China, Japan and 10 member states
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, producing an agreement to create a
US$80 billion joint fund by next June and to push for the establishment of a
regional economic surveillance organization to ensure greater financial stability
in Asia.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)
