S.Korea to intervene marginally in forex market

SEOUL, Dec 3 - South Korean authorities would make only make marginal interventions in the foreign exchange market due to a rapid depletion of the country's foreign currency reserves, a top government official said on Wednesday.

"South Korea does not have enough capacity for massive forex intervention. We will carry out smoothing operations in forex markets when necessary," Bahk Byoung-won, senior presidential secretary, told reporters.

He said that the authorities have intervened infrequently in the forex market in recent days as it is hard to lift the won even with massive dollar injections into the market.

His remarks came after official data showed early on Wednesday that the country's foreign reserves fell again by $11.7 billion to $200.5 billion in November, the lowest level in almost four years.

Bahk also said that the government need to consider the possible negative impact of a sharp increase in treasury bond issuances on the financial market as a jump could lead to higher money market rates.