Koo Yun-cheol, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said on the 10th that the government will do its best through policy efforts to stabilize the exchange rate as much as possible so that import prices remain stable.
Koo said at a National Assembly interpellation session on economic affairs that when Lee In-sun of the People Power Party pointed to inflation concerns, there are such upward factors in some imported goods as the currency has depreciated.
She added that the government is making every effort to stabilize the exchange rate as much as possible. The government is rolling out measures to address the exchange rate, including creating a Return-to-Domestic Market Account (RIA) to encourage the return of funds from Korean retail investors trading U.S. stocks who invested in overseas equities.
Koo added that Korea's inclusion in the World Government Bond Index (WGBI) in April would also be a positive factor for exchange-rate stability.
Responding to criticism that prices are not easing ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, Koo said the consumer price index is generally holding around 2%. Koo went on to say the government is taking a variety of steps, such as releasing as much of its stockpiles as possible, lowering prices even with fiscal support if prices are high, and applying a quota tariff to cut tariffs and bring prices down.
On housing price instability, Koo said stabilizing home prices is the top policy goal and that the government is focusing policy efforts on reshaping the market around actual occupancy.