Kim Yong-bum: "High interest rates are an unavoidable cost of Korea's economic leap"

Kim Yong-bum, Senior Secretary to the President for Economic Policy, stated that high interest rates, inflation, and exchange rates are unavoidable costs incurred during the process of the Korean economy advancing to a new stage.

Kim emphasized that sustainable current account surpluses and stability in the foreign currency funding market should be set as key management goals. He also added that it is time to actively pursue expanding foreign exchange reserves and establishing liquidity safety nets as new policy tasks.

He explained that a method to mitigate the impact when foreign capital fluctuates is to increase the proportion of domestic investors holding Korean stocks. Expanding policy incentives for stock ownership, such as activating retirement pensions and youth ISA accounts, are key means for managing external soundness, he said.