South Korea’s Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho affirmed that the financial market remains stable despite the failures of two US banks, but the government will promptly come up with stabilization measures, if necessary. On Friday, US regulators shut down Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the largest failure of a US bank since the 2008 financial crisis. It was followed by the collapse of the New York-based Signature Bank, Yonhap News Agency reported. The US financial authorities vowed to protect all deposits at the banks. “Following the measures made by the US, the South Korean main bourse, as well as the secondary bourse, gained ground (the previous day) on the back of foreigners’ buying,” the Finance Minister said ahead of a meeting with officials from other financial regulators. On Monday, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 0.67%, while the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market edged up 0.04% despite concerns over the jitters, as some investors bet on the Fed slowing down its rate hikes. Choo also reiterated his view that the situation will have a limited impact on the South Korean market. “Local financial institutions have different asset and debt structures, compared with SVB. They have a strong liquidity and hold sufficient fundamentals to withhold a temporal shock,” the minister added. Choo, however, said the latest collapses of the US banks may lead to further uncertainties in the financial market, as the global inflation has not yet been brought under control. “If necessary, under a close coordination with related organizations, we will promptly roll out market stabilization measures,” Choo said.

Source: Qatar News Agency