Members of Monetary Policy Board bid farewell
.jpg?w=728)
Four of the Monetary Policy Board members, who left as their terms expire, gather with other board members and Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol, center, after a farewell ceremony held at the central bank headquarters in downtown Seoul, Wednesday. The four members retiring are Chung Hae-bang, second from left, Ha Sung-keun, third from left, Chung Soon-won, fifth from left, and Moon Woo-sik, sixth from left. / Courtesy of Bank of Korea
By Yoon Ja-young
Four of the Bank of Korea's Monetary Policy Board members left the central bank, Wednesday, with the expiration of their four-year terms. The country’s key rate was cut to 1.5 percent from 3.25 percent since their inauguration in April 2012. They slashed the key rate seven times to boost the economy.
"At the inauguration four years ago, I said that I had a big responsibility on my shoulders. It turned out that the responsibility was heavier than I'd expected," said Ha Sung-keun, professor emeritus of Yonsei University who was among the four. The board is chaired by the Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol and is comprised of six members.
Professor Ha was known as being “dovish.” He expressed the minority opinion even in the last monetary policy board meeting he attended Tuesday, where he argued that the key rate should be slashed by 0.25 percentage points.
"While the central bank should maintain neutrality as much as it can, there is also the demand that it should make a little more effort for policy coordination with other ministries,” he said, pointing out that other countries are aggressively cutting their key rates.
Chung Hae-bang, a professor at Konkuk University and former government official, noted that there is concern over deflation in the market _ while the main task of the central bank is to fight inflation, the economy is facing a totally new challenge of low prices.
“There was no notable economic recovery though the key rate was cut to a historically low level,” he said, expecting economic conditions to worsen.
He emphasized the role of the central bank to solve economic problems, advising it to strengthen its economic analysis and forecasts.
Chung Soon-won, who has a Ph.D. in economics and has served as CEO at a number of firms, emphasized communication with the market.
“At first, I tended to make a mechanical approach, using only data. As time went on, however, I realized that communication with the market is just as important.”
He said the central bank should upgrade its methods of communication. “With time, it will gain the trust of both the market and the people.”
Moon Woo-sik, a professor of economics at Seoul National University, was known as a hawk during his term as he often expressed minority opinions opposing key rate cuts. He thanked the BOK staff members with whom he spent the past four years.