SOUTH KOREA
Choo Kyung-ho – Finance Minister
South Korean Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho stated on Friday that “consumer prices will likely exceed 5% for a certain period of time,” before returning to between 3% and 4% early next year. The minister reiterated an assessment yesterday provided by the Bank of Korea, which increased its key interest rates for the first time in 15 years to counter soaring inflation.
UK
Rishi Sunak – Finance Secretary
Sunak stated on Friday that the proposed £15 billion cost-of-living aid package would raise inflation in the country by less than one percentage point. “My view is that it will have a minimal impact on inflation. Much, much less than” one percentage point, he said in an interview for Sky News. Commenting on the new 25% windfall tax on oil & gas companies, Sunak said the government plans to “understand the scale of those profits, and then decide on the appropriate next steps.”
RUSSIA
Anton Siluanov – Finance Minister
Russia needs substantial financial resources in the current circumstances “to support the economy” according to the minister. The country had already allocated 8 trillion rubles ($123 billion) to support the economy. Siluanov also stressed that the ban on the export of Russian capital to investors from hostile countries will remain in place until sanctions are lifted, and gold and foreign exchange reserves are unfrozen. “I believe that this measure will continue until the sanctions that have been imposed or the freezes that have been imposed on our reserves and assets are lifted,” he emphasized.
