"I really do not have a big concern on the level of the exchange rate itself," Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong told Bloomberg TV while visiting the United States. "What we are worrying about is more like what will be the future path of the oil prices." He said the bank's board members wanted to warn markets against betting on an early policy change due to the uncertain inflation, referring to their April 11 meeting, at which they held interest rates steady for a second consecutive meeting. Rhee also said the financial system of Asia's fourth-largest economy had not been significantly affected by the fallout of the collapse of U.S. Silicon Valley Bank, but added that it raised issues for Seoul to consider. "If a similar thing happens in Korea, (the speed of money withdrawal) can be probably a hundred times faster than in the United States, and so, we have to be prepared for this at this stage," he said. (Reporting by Choonsik Yoo Editing by Chris Reese and Shri Navaratnam)
(Corrects date of meeting in paragraph 3)
April 13 (Reuters) - The head of South Korea's central
bank said on Thursday he was worried more about the uncertain
oil price prospects than about the dollar/won exchange rate rising or falling to any specific level.
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