SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s top financial regulator on Friday called on the country’s major financial groups for cooperation with the government’s efforts to help cut borrowing costs for vulnerable people.
“There have been efforts made in the financial sector to lower interest rates on new loans, but those efforts need to continue for more people to feel the change,” Kim Joo-hyun, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said during a meeting with the heads of the country’s five major financial groups.
Kim said financial companies should try to minimise spill-over effects on retail customers as much as possible despite rising interest rates in financial markets.
Despite recent bank troubles in the United States and Europe, the local financial industry and markets have remained comparably stable, thanks to preemptive and coordinated efforts by the government, central bank and the industry, Kim said.
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Writing by Choonsik Yoo; Editing by Chris Reese and Lincoln Feast)
