South Korea seeks incentives for long-term stock investment, FX stability

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea will prepare incentives for long-term stock investors,​ while making efforts toward foreign exchange stability,‌ the finance minister said on Wednesday.

“We plan to introduce ‌incentive measures for small investors, who stay in capital markets for a long time or invest in certain stocks in the long term,” Minister Koo ⁠Yun-cheol said ‌at a meeting with reporters.

On the foreign exchange market, Koo said the government,‍ within its capacity, was consulting primarily with market participants to prevent excessive uncertainty and instability in exchange rates.

Koo said ​he has met with major exporters, who ‌were not repatriating U.S. dollars earned abroad. He also said there has not yet been an opportunity to meet with the national pension fund, whose demand for overseas investment is growing.

“⁠The government is spending taxpayers’​ money for U.S. ​investments, in return for lower tariffs, which benefit companies. Companies should be ‍aware of ⁠these efforts being made by the government and taxpayers,” Koo said, referring to a ⁠$350 billion investment package included in a trade deal with the ‌U.S.

(Reporting by Jihoon Lee;‌ Editing by Christopher Cushing)