Kim Byunghwan Meets with French Senate Finance Committee Chair to Discuss Strengthening Financial Cooperation

Sharing Trends in Korea-France Financial Markets and Policies

Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Byung-hwan is giving a briefing on household debt at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno, Seoul, on the 6th. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

On the 9th, Kim Byung-hwan, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, met with Claude Raynal, Chairman of the Finance Committee of the French Senate, and six other senators at the Government Seoul Office.

The Finance Committee is one of the seven standing committees of the French Senate, responsible for drafting and revising financial and fiscal legislation, as well as overseeing financial and monetary policies. This meeting was held at the request of the Finance Committee during their overseas visit.

On this day, the French side congratulated the newly appointed Chairman of the Financial Services Commission and stated that the purpose of their visit to Korea and Japan was to gain insights into financial market and policy trends, as well as the status and management direction of national debt in both the private and government sectors. France's household debt-to-GDP ratio (63.0%) is at the average level among major countries, but corporate debt stands at 150.4%, exceeding Korea's (122.3%) and the average (92.4%).

In response, Chairman Kim explained that since his inauguration on July 31, he has been focusing efforts on resolving the four major risks currently facing the Korean financial sector: real estate project financing (PF), household debt, self-employed loans, and the soundness of the secondary financial sector.

Regarding household debt, financial institutions strictly assess borrowers' repayment capacity in terms of total volume to determine whether to approve loans or set limits, and qualitatively, efforts are being made to improve the structure by expanding fixed-rate and installment repayment options.

Chairman Kim and Chairman Raynal concluded the meeting by expressing hopes to continuously share financial market and policy trends related to household and corporate debt, and to expand mutual entry and cooperation between private financial companies of Korea and France.