South Korea's central bank needs to take more note of global uncertainties, including higher oil prices and Japan's nuclear disaster, than domestic issues to make forecasts for Asia's No 4 economy, a senior Bank of Korea official said.
"There are more risk factors from abroad than domestic factors now, and we need to pay close attention to them and catch developments quickly," Deputy Governor Kim Jae-chun told Reuters in an interview on Thursday, citing the country's heavy reliance on trade and a faster-than-expected jump in oil prices.
Kim, who heads the central bank's research, reserve management and international departments, cautioned that recent gains in the won and some corporate bond prices indicated a return to levels prior to the collapse of Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008.
"There is a question mark over whether it is appropriate for them to return to pre-crisis levels," he noted, without elaborating. The won closed domestic trade at 1,096.7 against the dollar, just off a session high of 1,094.8 which was the strongest in 2-1/2 years. Smoothing operations by the authorities, aimed at controlling the local currency's advance, were spotted by dealers in afternoon trading, but failed to change its direction.
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