SEOUL :The United States and South Korea agreed on Saturday to implement liquidity facilities to stabilise financial markets if needed, Korea’s finance ministry said after a teleconference between finance chiefs of the two countries.
The won is near its lowest level since March 2009, and has weakened 17 per cent against the surging U.S. dollar so far in 2022, amid a broad sell-off in emerging market currencies as the Federal Reserve aggressively raises interest rates.
“The two countries are ready to work closely together to implement liquidity facilities when necessary, such as when financial instability is aggravated by the spread of (a) liquidity crunch in major economies, including Korea,” the ministry said in a statement after the call between the U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and South Korea finance minister Choo Kyung-ho.
The agreement reached on Saturday repeats the U.S. statement made when Yellen last visited Seoul in…