SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s Finance Minister said on Thursday that he would hold talks with Japan about re-establishing a bilateral currency swap line that expired in 2015.
“Current economic issues, including bilateral and regional financial cooperation, will be discussed at the bilateral finance ministers’ meeting on June 29,” Choo Kyung-ho said, adding that a currency swap agreement would also be on the agenda. .
Qiu made remarks during the debate in response to a reporter’s question about the Japan-South Korea finance ministers’ meeting to be held in Tokyo.
The talks mark the resumption of regular talks between the two finance ministers, which had been suspended since 2016 after the two countries agreed to resume them at their last meeting in early May.
On the domestic economy, Qiu said economic growth this year was likely to be “slightly lower” than the government’s previous forecast of 1.6%.
He said the revisions would be included in the economic outlook due in late June or early July when the government releases its semi-annual policy plan.
However, the government said it had not considered a supplementary budget for this year and had no plans to do so for some time.
The country’s inflation rate cooled to a 19-month low in May and is likely to fall to the high 2% range this month, but remains high and keeping inflation under control remains a top priority for the foreseeable future. Mr Chu said.
Reported by Jihoon Lee.Editing: Sri Navaratnam & Simon Cameron Moore
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