On May 8, Acting Minister of Economy and Finance Kim Beomseok convened a Meeting on Macroeconomic and Financial Issues at the Korea Federation of Banks building. The meeting was held to assess the impact of the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) decision to hold interest rates steady – announced earlier this morning (KST) – on domestic and global financial and foreign exchange (FX) markets, and to discuss future plans.

* Participants: The Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, the Chairman of the Financial Supervisory Service, and the Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Korea.

Last night, the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) left its policy rate unchanged for the third consecutive time during the FOMC meeting, maintaining the upper bound at 4.5%. In its statement, the Fed noted that economic uncertainty had increased and highlighted elevated risks to employment and inflation in the United States.

At the press conference, Chair Powell stated, “We think that leaves us in a good place to wait and see. We don’t think we need to be in a hurry. We think we can be patient. We are going to be watching the data.”

In the early hours of today, global financial markets remained generally stable. While attention was drawn to the Fed’s recognition of heightened risks to employment and inflation, the decision to keep rates unchanged and Chair Powell’s cautious stance on the economic outlook were broadly in line with market expectations.

At today’s meeting, participants shared the view that although the domestic stock and bond markets have maintained a steady trajectory, lingering external uncertainties – such as concerns over a slowdown in the U.S. economy, U.S.-China tensions, and ongoing tariff negotiations – continue to pose risks; the sharp fluctuations in some Asian currencies late last week had added to the volatility in FX markets. They also agreed that it is essential to maintain a heightened sense of vigilance and continue 24-hour monitoring of the financial and FX markets given that major events in international financial markets such as the first official trade negotiations between the U.S. and China are scheduled to take place.

Furthermore, Acting Minister Kim stated that, given the continued internal and external uncertainties – including major countries’ trade negotiations and rising geopolitical tensions – the government will convene the Meeting on Macroeconomic and Financial Issues on a weekly basis to closely monitor developments in the financial and FX markets and ensure the stable management of the economy.

Please refer to the attached files.