Seoul's finance minister meets IMF, World Bank heads in Washington
  • 6 years ago
The nation's chief economic policymaker is in Washington for the G20 finance minister's meeting and the IMF/World Bank annual spring meeting.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Seoul's finance minister met with heads of the IMF and World Bank to discuss pressing economic issues.
Kim Hyesung reports.


South Korea's Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon met with IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde in Washington on Thursday to discuss currency market issues.
On the sidelines of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting,... Minister Kim said Seoul is working on raising the transparency of its forex market, including making its currency market intervention records public.
He said the government is looking into the frequency of disclosing the data while taking South Korea's economic structure and other countries' disclosure cases into consideration.
According to Seoul's finance ministry, Lagarde said the IMF has repeatedly recommended South Korea improve its forex market transparency, adding that disclosing the records will help support the country's macroeconomic stability.
She added that the negative effects won't be too pronounced given South Korea's strong economic fundamentals and financial market environment.
Minister Kim is scheduled to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Saturday to discuss the same issue.
Meanwhile, the finance minister also met with World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim.
They agreed to expand cooperation in areas like infrastructure projects in developing countries through funding and knowledge sharing programs.
In addition, Seoul's finance ministry said the government will increase funding to the World Bank's regional office in South Korea to expand operations.
Minister Kim also invited the World Bank chief to the annual meeting of the African Development Bank Group which will be held in Korea's southeastern port city of Busan in May.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.
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