Finance minister, BOK chief vow to work together for economic recovery

SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's finance minister and the head of the
central bank pledged Friday to work together to prevent the economy from slipping
into a recession.
"To overcome the current economic difficulties, there should be close cooperation
between the government and the central bank," Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun
said in a meeting with Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Lee Seong-tae.
"The BOK has contributed to stabilizing the financial markets through aggressive
monetary easing. I hope the BOK will continue to do its part in countering the
downturn. The government will respect the independence of the central bank."
The meeting comes one day after the BOK cut its key interest rate by half a
percentage point to a record low of 2 percent in an attempt to jumpstart the
sputtering economy.
Finance Minister Yoon, who took office in Tuesday, said Asia's fourth-largest
economy will likely shrink 2 percent this year, the first annual contraction
since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
The government is scrambling to unveil a set of stimulus packages, including tax
cuts and expanded spending. Yoon promised to push for a supplementary budget to
generate jobs and boost the slumping economy.
Yoon's was the first visit by a Finance Minister to the BOK since 1998 when the
law on the central bank was revised and the BOK's right to supervise local banks
was transferred to the Financial Supervisory Service, the financial watchdog.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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