Won falls most after yen

The Korean won has fallen the most against the dollar among global currencies this year after the Japanese yen.

The won lost more than 6 percent between January and April 8 this year, losing more of its value against the dollar than 28 other currencies including the euro, the British pound and the Canadian dollar, according to data by the Bank of Korea.

The Philippine peso shed 0.70 percent, and Malaysian ringgit 0.07 percent, one of the lowest falls against the dollar among Asian currencies, which the data showed mostly losing about 1 percent in the same period.

The yen’s depreciation is picking up speed following the Bank of Japan’s aggressive monetary easing, with the yen weakening almost 13 percent. The yen-dollar exchange jumped about 2 percent to reach over 98 yen after last week’s decision by the central bank to boost the money supply to fight deflation and an economic downturn.

It is not Korea’s economic fundamentals or global macroeconomic conditions, analysts said, but external political factors such as the tension with North Korea that are driving down demand for the won.

“Two factors ― North Korea and the BOJ’s easy-money policy ― could be interpreted as the main cause of the won’s weakness,” said Jun Min-gyu, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities.

It would be difficult to see the won rebounding soon, given the situation that the government’s policy has geared more toward not allowing the won to strengthen on low inflation and slow exports, he added.

Jun expects the exchange rate to trade within the range of 1,100 to 1,150 won against the dollar this week.

The Korean won lost its edge early this year due to increasing expectations of an economic recovery in the U.S., making the dollar stronger as capital flowed back to the world’s largest economy from emerging markets.

As the level of the North’s threats escalated, South Korean stocks and currency fell on worsening market sentiment.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)