|
Korea and the United States signed a currency swap agreement involving billions of dollars on Wednesday. The two countries will now be able to exchange their currencies in emergencies, allowing Korea to secure dollar supplies in case of a foreign currency liquidity shortage.
Earlier, Strategy and Finance Minister Kang Man-soo in emergency meetings of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Washington on Saturday called for emerging nations to be included in currency swaps among nations.
The call came in a keynote speech. "Newly emerging economies as well as advanced nations have difficulties securing dollars due to the financial crisis," Kang said.
The U.S. Federal Reserve Bank approved the currency swap agreement Wednesday.
The U.S. currently has currency swap agreement with Australia, Canada, Denmark, the European Central Bank, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Korea is the first emerging economy to have signed the currency swap agreement.
The agreement allows the Bank of Korea to deposit money in won in the Fed for a certain period of time and take out U.S. dollars. This will help Korea secure and maintain foreign currency reserves and help stabilize the won.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
