S Korea signs $5.4bn currency swap deal with UAE

Reuters/SeoulSouth Korea’s central bank said yesterday it signed a bilateral, three-year currency swap deal with the UAE worth up to $5.4bn in a bid to strengthen trade and financial ties between the two countries. The arrangement lets either country swap 5.8tn Korean won for 20bn dirham, or vice versa. The Bank of Korea (BOK) said the agreement expires in three years but can be extended if needed. The currency swap agreement was the second announced yesterday, after the Bank of Korea said it would soon sign a won-rupiah swap pact with the Indonesian central bank valued up to $10bn. The central bank has been discussing a potential currency swap with the UAE since June, a Bank of Korea official told Reuters yesterday. The BOK is also open to signing similar currency swap deals with other countries, he added, but declined to say if any additional deals would be announced in the near future.