Seoul readies for US rate rise by easing levy on capital inflows

Seoul

SOUTH Korea said on Friday it would ease some controls on foreign-currency borrowings to prepare for possible market instability in the likelihood of an increase in US interest rates later in the year.

The government will exclude foreign-currency debt maturing in one year or later from the "macro-prudential levy", and include some non-banking firms on the list of companies subject to the levy, the finance ministry said in a statement.