International Monetary Fund to close office in Korea amid restructuring
The International Monetary Fund said Thursday it will close its Korean office as part of a broader restructuring and downsizing of the Washington, D.C.-based organization, reported Yonhap News Agency.
In a brief statement distributed through Korea's Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the IMF said that its Seoul office will close when the term of current resident representative Meral Karasulu ends in September.
"While Korea is an important economy in both the region and the global economy, it is also now a mature and resilient economy, and has fully recovered from the Asia crisis," the fund said. "Given the importance of the Korean economy, our decision to close the office was a difficult one."
In November 1997, Korea, its economy reeling from an economic contagion that had alreadyswept through Thailand and Indonesia _ asked the International Monetary Fund for a $19.5 billion loan.
Korea ended up receiving a total $58 billion international bailout package arranged by the fund. The country, however, moved swiftly to reform its economy and ended up using only $30.2 billion of the offered assistance.
It eventually paid back the loans in full and ahead of schedule.
Still, the experience was so searing for Koreans that the events came to be known as the "IMF crisis" for the role played by the fund.
The fund said that as a result of the restructuring, a number of resident offices in both Asia and other parts of the world would be shut down, with some of them remaining open to take on a wider regional role.
"Notwithstanding these closures, the IMF remains committed to working closely with the authorities of all economies in the Asia region to maintain macroeconomic and financial stability," the statement said.
The document didnot mention any other offices to be closed by name.
Karasulu was not immediately available to comment.
The International Monetary Fund said Thursday it will close its Korean office as part of a broader restructuring and downsizing of the Washington, D.C.-based organization, reported Yonhap News Agency.
In a brief statement distributed through Korea's Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the IMF said that its Seoul office will close when the term of current resident representative Meral Karasulu ends in September.
"While Korea is an important economy in both the region and the global economy, it is also now a mature and resilient economy, and has fully recovered from the Asia crisis," the fund said. "Given the importance of the Korean economy, our decision to close the office was a difficult one."
In November 1997, Korea, its economy reeling from an economic contagion that had alreadyswept through Thailand and Indonesia _ asked the International Monetary Fund for a $19.5 billion loan.
Korea ended up receiving a total $58 billion international bailout package arranged by the fund. The country, however, moved swiftly to reform its economy and ended up using only $30.2 billion of the offered assistance.
It eventually paid back the loans in full and ahead of schedule.
Still, the experience was so searing for Koreans that the events came to be known as the "IMF crisis" for the role played by the fund.
The fund said that as a result of the restructuring, a number of resident offices in both Asia and other parts of the world would be shut down, with some of them remaining open to take on a wider regional role.
"Notwithstanding these closures, the IMF remains committed to working closely with the authorities of all economies in the Asia region to maintain macroeconomic and financial stability," the statement said.
The document didnot mention any other offices to be closed by name.
Karasulu was not immediately available to comment.
2008.04.10
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