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Heads of BOK and FSC pledge to work together

Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol shakes hand with Koh Seung-beom, newly appointed chair of the Financial Services Commission who took office Tuesday. [BANK OF KOREA]

The heads of the Bank of Korea (BOK) and Financial Services Commission (FSC) agreed to work together on issues such as rising household debt.

BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol and newly appointed FSC chief Koh Seung-beom made the pledge at a meeting Friday. Koh took office on Tuesday.

In the closed meeting, Lee touched on the importance of a good balance between monetary policies and fiscal policies to solve such issues as soaring asset prices and household debt, according to a release by the central bank Friday.

Lee added that as certain groups are still suffering economically from the coronavirus pandemic, the central bank will try to offer support to them in loan programs.

Koh emphasized the importance of collaboration between the two institutions in difficult times.

As the pandemic still puts pressure on the economy, Lee and Koh agreed to meet frequently.

Koh was a member of the seven-member monetary policy board of the central bank since 2016 before leaving it last month after he was nominated to chair the FSC.

In July's monetary policy board meeting, Koh was the only member to suggest a rate hike. All the other members voted to freeze the country's key interest rate.

The following month, the board decided to up the country's key rate by 25 basis points to 0.75 percent. It was the first rate hike in two years and nine months.

BY KIM JEE-HEE [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]