Volatile FX market biggest risk to financial system: survey

▲ This photo shows the dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul on Jan. 21, 2026. (Yonhap)

FX market-financial system

Volatile FX market biggest risk to financial system: survey

SEOUL, Jan. 23 (Yonhap) -- More than one in four financial experts believe increased volatility in the foreign exchange (FX) market poses the biggest risk to the country's financial system, a central bank survey showed Friday.

According to the survey conducted by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on 75 financial experts at home and abroad between November and December, 26.7 percent said heightened volatility in the local FX market is the biggest risk, among others, to the financial system in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

Some 16 percent said high household debt poses the second-largest risk to the financial system.

The South Korean won has long traded below the multiyear low of 1,450 won to the greenback, in the face of capital outflows caused by increased overseas stock investment and geopolitical risks stemming from the Middle East and Europe.

The respondents cited uncertainties in economic and monetary policies among major economies, and an adjustment in the global asset market as major external factors that may hurt the financial system.

Some 12 percent said there is a high possibility of a short-term shock occurring within a year undermining the financial system, the survey showed.

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