Economy / South Korea
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Won Could Fall To 1,650-1,725
October 2008 | Market StrategySorry, you must be a subscriber to view this article in full. If you are a subscriber please login.
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We believe that South Korea's won could fall towards the KRW1,650-1,725/US$ range, if the current rout fails to peter out soon. The won has already plunged to a fresh 10-year low of KRW1,400/US$, taking its losses against the US dollar to 33% since January (i.e. when we became bearish). This includes a 10% drop in September and a 15% loss in October, which make it the world's worst-performing currency apart from such luminaries as the Zimbabwe dollar, Turkmen manat, and Icelandic krona. Comments by top government officials, including President Lee Myung-bak himself, have failed to ease concerns.