Forex Market to Launch 24-Hour Trading Next Week; Korea's Growth Forecast May Be Upgraded

Starting Monday, the 6th, the Seoul foreign exchange market will operate 24 hours a day. This change is expected to reduce foreign exchange trading gaps and improve currency exchange convenience for domestic and international investors and import/export companies.

Attention is focused on whether the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will revise upward its economic growth forecast for South Korea in its upcoming World Economic Outlook report. Previously, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had raised its growth forecast for Korea this year to 2.6%. Among 42 institutions surveyed by Bloomberg, 11 projected South Korea's growth rate for this year to exceed 3%.

UK-based Capital Economics has forecast 4.0%, and Korean Re, a domestic reinsurer, has predicted 4.1%. With domestic and international institutions generally increasing their growth forecasts for the South Korean economy, the key question is whether this IMF report will lead to further positive outlooks for the Korean economy.