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China, South Korea reach 180b yuan currency swap deal

By Xin Zhiming (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-12-12 14:41

China and South Korea said on Friday that they have reached a deal on a currency swap worth 180 billion yuan ($26.28 billion), or 38 trillion won.

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The deal would last for three years and can be extended on the agreement of both sides, according to a statement from the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, on its website.

Its aim is to provide adequate liquidity for financial systems of the two major East Asian economies, the statement said, adding that the fundamentals of both economies remained good.

But the Korean won has depreciated by more than 30 percent this year due to the spread of the global financial crisis. The currency swap would provide South Korea more liquidity to stabilize its currency, analysts said.

Beijing and Seoul previously signed a $4 billion currency swap deal under the Chiang Mai Initiative, a mechanism that came into effect in 2000 to stipulate bilateral currency swaps among China, South Korea, Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economies to ward off financial risks.

China and South Korea agreed to discuss the possibility of transforming the swap currencies into reserves currencies, the statement said.

China would actively try to help stabilize the regional financial situation, its central bank said.

The top leaders of China, Japan and South Korea are scheduled to meet this weekend to discuss financial and economic issues.