Financial Services Commission chairman Yim Jong-yong. [Yonhap News Photo]
South Korea's top financial regulator said Monday that domestic markets appeared to be enduring the shock from Britain's withdrawal from the European Union as share prices rebounded slightly.
Financial Services Commission chairman Yim Jong-yong admitted Brexit has been rattling South Korean financial markets but he ruled out any drastic outflow of foreign funds.
"The impact appears to be not so stronger than in previous crises," he said, citing market data such as stock prices and a flow of foreign funds. But he warned there could be an additional shock stemming from such factors as an exit of more countries from the European bloc.
The benchmark KOSPI rose 0.08 percent to close at 1,926.85 Monday.
On Sunday, Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho promised to take aggressive measures to prevent any market unrest, expressing his confidence in riding out a post-Brexit crisis with South Korea's foreign currency reserves estimated at 370 billion US dollars.
Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol said the central bank was ready to provide ample liquidity to minimize market uncertainty but he said there is no need to react too sensitively to the Brexit crisis.
"There is no need for economic players to react too sensitively to short-term changes," he said, adding market jitters have eased.
On Friday, the greenback rose 2.5 percent against the South Korean currency to 1,179.90 won per dollar on concerns over a possible outflow of foreign funds. The dollar closed at 1,182.30 won per dollar on Monday.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
