The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting was held on April 18-19 in Washington D.C. The leaders present at the meeting reiterated that Japan’s quantitative easing is not a foreign exchange policy and should be aimed at ending deflation and reviving domestic demand. They also recognized that the advanced economies’ continued monetary easing may bring ‘unintended side effects’. Meanwhile, the supplementary budget, real estate market boosting measures and other aggressive macroeconomic policies recently announced by the Korean government were praised as measures that support the global economic recovery.

At the G20 meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Oh-Seok Hyun expressed concerns over the rapidly devaluating yen and increasing volatility in Asian currencies. He emphasized that the original purpose of quantitative easing is to boast domestic demand, and urged efforts to prepare for an orderly exit from quantitative easing programs.