Home
News
In Focus
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
Restaurants get off to a quick start thanks to game-changing policies
High service charges on event ticket refunds call for further regulation
Sunday
- Subscribe
Related News
South Korean won plummets
By Kelly Olsen |
March 3, 2009, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SOUTH Korea's currency fell sharply yesterday, hitting an 11-year low amid general pessimism about the world economy and nagging local fears of a dollar shortage.
The won fell 2.3 percent to 1,570.30 against the greenback, its lowest close since 1,582 on March 11, 1998, when South Korea was in the throes of the Asian financial crisis.
The benchmark Korean Stock Price Index dropped 4.2 percent to 1,018.81 amid a broader decline in Asian regional markets after news the United States economy shrank at its fastest pace in more than 25 years and suggestions that the country's banks may need more capital injections.
The South Korean currency has now fallen about 20 percent so far this year after a nearly 26 percent drop in 2008, making it one of the world's worst performers.
The won has suffered as foreign investors have fled the local stock market and South Korean financial institutions face difficulties amid the global credit crunch in obtaining dollars to pay off foreign loans.
The currency's woes have led to media speculation that South Korea could be vulnerable to a foreign exchange crisis akin to the one it suffered in 1997 that forced it to seek an international bailout.
Foreign reserves
The government and most economists, however, say that the chance of such a crisis is remote given South Korea's trove of foreign exchange reserves - the world's sixth largest at US$201.74 billion, currency swap deals with other countries and an expected turnaround this year to a surplus in its broadest measure of trade from a deficit in 2008.
South Korea, an export powerhouse, has been hit hard by the global economic slump, with demand for its products falling sharply in recent months. Exports and production have wilted and the economy contracted 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.
More evidence of the country's weakening economy came yesterday with data showing that industrial production fell 25.6 percent in January from the same month last year.
The won fell 2.3 percent to 1,570.30 against the greenback, its lowest close since 1,582 on March 11, 1998, when South Korea was in the throes of the Asian financial crisis.
The benchmark Korean Stock Price Index dropped 4.2 percent to 1,018.81 amid a broader decline in Asian regional markets after news the United States economy shrank at its fastest pace in more than 25 years and suggestions that the country's banks may need more capital injections.
The South Korean currency has now fallen about 20 percent so far this year after a nearly 26 percent drop in 2008, making it one of the world's worst performers.
The won has suffered as foreign investors have fled the local stock market and South Korean financial institutions face difficulties amid the global credit crunch in obtaining dollars to pay off foreign loans.
The currency's woes have led to media speculation that South Korea could be vulnerable to a foreign exchange crisis akin to the one it suffered in 1997 that forced it to seek an international bailout.
Foreign reserves
The government and most economists, however, say that the chance of such a crisis is remote given South Korea's trove of foreign exchange reserves - the world's sixth largest at US$201.74 billion, currency swap deals with other countries and an expected turnaround this year to a surplus in its broadest measure of trade from a deficit in 2008.
South Korea, an export powerhouse, has been hit hard by the global economic slump, with demand for its products falling sharply in recent months. Exports and production have wilted and the economy contracted 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.
More evidence of the country's weakening economy came yesterday with data showing that industrial production fell 25.6 percent in January from the same month last year.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
