Korea's return to US currency watch list unlikely to shake FX market: analysts

Korea’s renewed inclusion on the U.S. Treasury Department’s currency monitoring list is unlikely to have a significant impact on the local foreign exchange market, analysts in Seoul said Friday, dismissing the semiannual report as a largely routine event with limited immediate policy implications.

“The report drew much more attention early in President Donald Trump’s term last year. But it doesn’t result in any concrete measures, so it has become something of an old issue," said Lee Jung-hoon, an analyst at Daishin Securities. "I don’t expect it to have much impact on the market."

Kwon A-min, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities, also said the Treasury's foreign exchange report has become increasingly formulaic in recent years, shedding much of the political undertone it once carried. "I expect little impact on the market from the report," Kwon said. The Treasury, in its Report to Congress on Macroeconomic and Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States, kept Korea on its currency monitoring list alongside China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Singa