Ministry of Economy and Finance: "Extend Forex Market Hours Until 2 AM and Implement System Improvements Within This Year"

Meeting of the Dedicated Team for Government Work Evaluation Held

The government has decided to complete institutional improvements within this year to ease trading inconveniences, such as extending the operating hours of the foreign exchange trading market and increasing the scale of autonomous trading.

On the 6th, Bang Gi-seon, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, chaired a 'Government Work Evaluation Task Force (T/F)' meeting involving all departments and bureaus within the ministry to discuss major policies that the Ministry of Economy and Finance will independently pursue to actively support the achievement of national policy outcomes this year.

At the meeting, Vice Minister Bang emphasized, "To overcome the difficult economic situation, we must maintain special vigilance to ensure the smooth implementation of key policies such as macroeconomic stabilization and innovative growth. In particular, the Ministry of Economy and Finance should take the lead in continuously identifying improvement tasks for its regulatory responsibilities and actively communicate with the field to prepare policies that can genuinely help the struggling public."

First, amid concerns over the deepening low birthrate and downward revisions of growth forecasts leading to entrenched low growth, the Ministry of Economy and Finance will designate regulations under its jurisdiction that have high public impact as '2023 In-house Brand Tasks' and focus on promoting them to expand private-led growth engines.

The government is pushing to extend the foreign exchange trading market closing time from 3:30 PM to 2:00 AM the next day and to increase the scale of autonomous trading, and it has decided to implement related institutional improvements within this year. Additionally, it plans to promote 'foreign exchange market structural improvements' to restructure the foreign exchange market to a level that corresponds to the size of the Korean economy and global standards in the future.

In the procurement sector, measures to support growth by promoting market access for small and medium-sized enterprises will be prepared, including extending the designation period for innovative products and easing excessive contract deposit burdens. Innovative products are designated through deliberation by the Procurement Policy Deliberation Committee (chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister for Economy) for products recognized for their public nature and innovation, and benefits such as negotiated contracts, purchase exemptions, and pilot purchases are granted for public procurement entry.

For national contracts, improvements will be pursued regarding regulations that restrict transparency and fair participation opportunities in contracts, such as clarifying bidding evaluation criteria by introducing comprehensive evaluation criteria for non-construction works and easing restrictions on bidding participation.

In addition, for eight regulations under the ministry’s jurisdiction, including the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules of the Tobacco Business Act, the Enforcement Decree of the Framework Act on Cooperatives, and the Foreign Exchange Transaction Regulations, whose review deadlines arrive this year, the government will firmly adhere to the principle of termination or relaxation, with exceptional maintenance, and conduct strict regulatory extension reviews through the Government Work Evaluation T/F.

Bang Gi-seon, Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, is delivering opening remarks while presiding over the "2023 1st Government Work Evaluation T/F Meeting" held at the Government Sejong Complex on the 6th.