SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s finance minister said the government will scrap taxes on foreigners’ income from investments in treasury bonds and monetary stabilization bonds from Monday.
Speaking to reporters late on Saturday in the United States after a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers, Choo Kyung-ho said the government decided to bring forward the timing of the planned tax removal from 2023 to next week to boost capital inflows into the local bond market.
FTSE Russell, a global index provider, said on Sept. 30 it had added South Korea to a list for possible inclusion in its World Government Bond Index (WGBI).
“We were included in the WGBI watchlist at the end of September but were thinking there is a need to make a quick move to attract more foreign investment into our treasury bond market,” Choo said.
(Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by William Mallard)
