Overview
- Major lenders, in coordination with FX authorities, are offering perks for customers converting dollars to won and lowering interest rates on foreign-currency deposits.
- The Financial Supervisory Service will meet top banks Monday to urge restraint in promoting dollar deposits after earlier calls to curb aggressive FX marketing.
- The Bank of Korea introduced temporary interest on foreign-currency required reserves to bolster onshore dollar liquidity, and officials extended the National Pension Service’s strategic hedging arrangement.
- The government is preparing retail forward-selling hedges through brokerages, and regulators are reviewing a surge in dollar-denominated insurance sales with inspections possible.
- The won traded around 1,473.6 per dollar Friday after renewed losses, and some analysts, including Bank of America, say the latest steps are insufficient to halt the slide.