The Bank of Korea sign is displayed on top of the central bank headquarters building in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, August 16, 2018. South Korea’s central bank raised interest rates for the second straight time on Thursday to lower consumer price inflation from 13-13. It reached its highest level this year, and forecasts that it would rise to the highest level since 2008 were also revised upward.
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The Bank of Korea said Wednesday. After President Yoon Seok-yeol lifted martial law overnight, he announced that he would increase short-term liquidity and take measures to stabilize the foreign exchange market as necessary.
This announcement came shortly after the Bank of Korea held an emergency board meeting that began around 9 a.m. local time. In a statement issued after the meeting: The central bank said it would also provide special loans to inject funds into the market if necessary.
The Bank of Korea said, “As announced with the government, we will provide sufficient liquidity for a limited period until the financial and foreign exchange markets stabilize.” promise again Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Sang-mok said this morning.
Yonhap News, a local news agency, reported. On Wednesday morning, Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service said it was prepared to allocate 10 trillion won ($7.07 billion) to the stock market stabilization fund at any time.
General Yoon declared emergency martial law late Tuesday night and mobilized the military. Within hours, the National Assembly passed a resolution overturning the emergency order, forcing Prosecutor General Yoon to lift martial law early Wednesday morning. Mr. Yoon said that the military unit deployed at the time also withdrew.
“In our view, any negative impact on the economy and financial markets may be short-lived due to uncertainty. [the] “Through proactive policy responses, the political and economic environment could quickly ease,” Citi analysts said in a note.
U.S. stock markets suffered sharp swings on Tuesday amid political turmoil in South Korea. The iShares MSCI South Korea ETF (EWY), which tracks more than 90 large and mid-sized companies in South Korea, fell as much as 7% to hit a 52-week low before closing losses down 1.6%.
Last week, the Bank of Korea unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points.
The Korean stock market began trading at its usual 9 am (KST).
