Han Deok-soo: “We cannot rise to the ranks of the reserve currency and increase our debt at will.”

sapta

10 ก.ย., 2566

Han Deok-soo: “We cannot rise to the ranks of the reserve currency and increase our debt at will.”

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“Difficult situation if we do not focus on fiscal soundness… Warning from IMF etc.”
“Difficult to agree on whether to organize supplementary budget”

(Seoul = Yonhap Infomax) Reporter Jong-hwa Han = Prime Minister Han Deok-soo emphasized, “If we do not focus on fiscal soundness, we will find ourselves in a very difficult situation both externally and domestically.”

Prime Minister Han said in a question to the government in the economic field of the National Assembly held on the 7th, “No one rejects the currencies of Japan or the United States. However, our country has not yet reached the rank of reserve currency.” “We are in a situation where we cannot increase it arbitrarily,” he said.

At the same time, he said, “It was a warning from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and international credit rating agencies that Korea’s external credit rating would have to be adjusted if debt increased at a rapid rate.” “We are going through this difficult time as domestic interest rates are rising in line with interest rates,” he explained.

Regarding the government’s economic outlook, Prime Minister Han said, “The trend will continue,” and “Semiconductors, which were the most limiting factor, seem to have hit their lowest point and are recovering somewhat.”

He continued, “The Chinese economy, our close neighbor, has lifted the lockdown and started opening up in January of this year. Also, external group tourism has been relaxed, so the number of Chinese tourists has been increasing significantly recently.”

Prime Minister Han also explained that efforts are being made to maintain economic relations with China. He also added that he is pushing for a Korea-China-Japan summit.

He said, “When meeting high-ranking officials, the Chinese side says that Korea is a close country to China, that we should get along well, and let’s do it that way.” He added, “China is a close country and a very important country to us. We will have more high-level exchanges whenever the opportunity arises.” He emphasized.

He said, “We are also pushing for a summit between Korea, China, and Japan.”

There was also a question about whether there was an intention to prepare a supplementary budget.

Prime Minister Han said, “It is difficult to agree,” and added, “If additional spending is made through the supplementary budget when tax revenue is in such a deficit, the deficit will grow even larger.”

Regarding the drastic reduction of the research and development (R&D) budget in the science and technology community, he said, “I think it depends on whether or not we can allocate it effectively to increase our innovation and technological capabilities. Although (the R&D budget) has been reduced by 10%, our overall technological capabilities have improved.” “The drivers for innovation will never decrease,” he emphasized.

Prime Minister Han Deok-soo answers questions from the government

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Han Sang-gyun = Prime Minister Han Deok-soo is answering a question to the government at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 7th. 2023.9.7 xyz@yna.co.kr

jhhan@yna.co.kr

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This article was published on the Infomax financial information terminal at 15:28, two hours earlier.