'Finance, Monetary, and Financial' Chiefs to Meet Tomorrow... Responding to FOMC Aftermath

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho is reviewing documents at the Cabinet meeting held via video conference with the Sejong Government Complex on the 14th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

To assess the market situation following the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho, Bank of Korea Governor Lee Chang-yong, Financial Supervisory Service Chairman Lee Bok-hyun, and Financial Services Commission Vice Chairman Kim So-young will gather in one place.

On the 16th at 7 a.m., the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Bank of Korea announced on the 15th that an expanded macroeconomic and financial meeting (Geum Meeting) will be held at the Bankers’ Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul, attended by Deputy Prime Minister Choo, Governor Lee, Chairman Lee, Vice Chairman Kim, and Choi Jae-young, President of the Korea Center for International Finance.

This is the first time since the launch of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration that the heads of fiscal, monetary, and financial authorities have all gathered. Originally, this Geum Meeting was scheduled to be held under the chairmanship of Deputy Minister Bang Ki-seon of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, but considering the recent expansion of instability in the financial and foreign exchange markets, it was elevated to be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Choo.

At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Choo, Governor Lee, and others are expected to discuss the market response direction based on the main results of the FOMC.

The Fed will conclude the June FOMC at 2 p.m. local time on the 15th (3 a.m. Korean time on the 16th) and announce the interest rate hike. Chairman Jerome Powell will also reveal the economic outlook and policy direction during a press conference.

At last month’s FOMC, the Fed raised the benchmark interest rate by 0.5 percentage points. Chairman Powell hinted at the possibility of another 0.5 percentage point rate hike in June and July, but as inflation has recently accelerated further, the market is rapidly gaining momentum for a 0.75 percentage point increase.

The expanded Geum Meeting is being held for the first time in four months since the meeting of former Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki, former Governor Lee Ju-yeol, former Financial Supervisory Service Chairman Jung Eun-bo, and former Financial Services Commission Vice Chairman Do Kyu-sang in February. As the government views the recent economic instability as likely to continue in the medium to long term, Deputy Prime Minister Choo is expected to request cooperation from related agencies to overcome the crisis during the meeting.