Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Economy and Finance Minister Lee Hyeong-il stated, "The government will reduce the October government bond issuance volume by 5 trillion won to stabilize the government bond market," adding, "Going forward, we will closely monitor trends in the government bond market and consider further reductions in bond issuance volumes if necessary."
Deputy Prime Minister Lee presided over the Market Situation Review Meeting on the 2nd, stating, "Through close cooperation with relevant institutional investors, we will also implement market stabilization measures, such as emergency buybacks, depending on market conditions," revealing this.
In particular, he noted, "Beyond government bonds, interest rates in the bond market are generally rising, and credit spreads have widened since the beginning of this year," adding, "If high interest rate levels persist, there is concern that refinancing burdens for low-credit-rating companies could increase. Therefore, relevant institutional investors will continue to jointly review interest rates and issuance conditions in the bond market."
The meeting on the day also included a review of recent real estate market conditions. To this end, Hong Ji-sun, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, attended the meeting.
Deputy Prime Minister Lee stated, "As the rise in Seoul apartment prices has eased for five consecutive weeks, policy efforts focused on expanding supply have resulted in improvements in leading supply indicators, such as a more than 40% year-on-year increase in housing permits and construction starts in Seoul from January to August."
He continued, "In areas excluding the Gangnam district, the upward trend in housing prices is still continuing," diagnosing that, "On the supply side, there is a time lag before actual move-ins occur, so sustained policy efforts are needed for citizens to feel the effects of increased housing supply."
Deputy Prime Minister Lee said, "The government will closely monitor housing market trends and continue close responses, while carefully checking on the ground to ensure that previously announced supply measures are implemented without delay."
Regarding structural improvements in the financial and foreign exchange markets, he revealed, "We have prepared measures to ease foreign exchange transaction regulations, such as converting pre-notification for certain capital transactions to post-reporting and raising the reporting threshold amount, and will announce them soon. We will complete amendments to the Foreign Exchange Transactions Regulations within this year."
Deputy Prime Minister Lee stated, "Today is the first time I am presiding over a Market Situation Review Meeting since taking office as Deputy Prime Minister," adding, "Going forward, I will make this meeting one that comprehensively examines the macroeconomy and financial, foreign exchange, and real estate markets within a single framework."
The Market Situation Meeting has traditionally been called the 'F4 Meeting' until now. This is because four people—Gyeong Je-bu (Prime Minister), the Governor of the Bank of Korea, the Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, and the Head of the Financial Supervisory Service—gather to discuss major macroeconomic and financial issues. Deputy Prime Minister Lee is expected to operate the F4 meeting in a more expanded manner.
Deputy Prime Minister Lee stated, "We will carefully examine where risks are emerging and where they could spread, so as not to miss even small abnormal signals in the market and to detect them early," adding, "The economic and financial team will work closely together to devote all efforts to maintaining the stability of our economy and finance."
in ECONOMY
