SKorean financial crisis possible – BoK poll
SEOUL: Six out of 10 South Korean financiers saw a high possibility for a financial crisis to occur in the East Asian country in the near future, a Bank of Korea (BoK) survey showed on Monday.
Of the economic and financial experts polled by the South Korean central bank from November 2 to 9, 58.3 percent of them said the possibility was high for the anticipated financial system crisis to be caused by a certain shock within a year. The figure is more than double the 26.9 percent tallied in the previous survey in May.
The percentage of respondents who saw a high possibility for a certain shock to affect the financial system’s stability within the next three years was 40.3 percent, up from 32.9 percent in the fifth month.
The percentage of those who regard the financial system as highly credible slipped from 53.2 percent in May to 36.1 percent this month.
Of the total, 27.8 percent see worsening corporate financing conditions as the biggest risk factor to the financial system, while 16.7 percent see massive household debt and the higher debt-servicing burden as the top risk factor.
The BoK began to tighten its monetary policy stance in August last year, raising its benchmark interest rate from a record low of 0.50 percent to 3.25 percent.