Korea to keep inflation below 3%, accelerate won internationalization

The government will focus on keeping consumer inflation below 3 percent in the second half of the year while accelerating the internationalization of the won, including measures to allow foreign investors to trade the Korean currency more freely offshore, Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said Wednesday.

The finance ministry will also seek to enact a new national assets law to overhaul the management of more than 1,400 trillion won ($938 billion) in state-owned assets and broaden the framework to include emerging assets such as intellectual property and virtual assets.

Koo outlined the plans to President Lee Jae Myung as part of a 10-point economic agenda for the second half of the year.

The policy package focuses on stabilizing prices, fostering new growth engines and reforming the nation's economic systems.

He said the ministry will launch unprecedented discount promotions on agricultural, livestock and fisheries products while lowering wholesale supply prices to curb rising price pressure fueled by the Middle East conflict and keep second-half consumer inflation below 3 percent.

It will ...