Bank of Korea plays down fears over US stimulus taper

South Korea's central bank head said his international counterparts mostly agreed the end of the US Federal Reserve's stimulus would not spark a major crisis, although some emerging nations would suffer "difficulties". Bank of Korea governor Kim Choong-Soo's comments come as foreigners flee developing countries such as India, Indonesia and Brazil, which had seen a huge investment splurge thanks to the vast US monetary easing. The withdrawal of the huge sums of cash has seen emerging market stocks and currencies tumble in recent weeks. "When the reduction in liquidity starts, some markets that have deviated from market principles will become targets", Kim told a group of economists from foreign investment banks in Seoul after returning from a central bankers' annual get-together in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. "No major crisis is expected, but there was some talk about the possibility of some countries undergoing difficulties", he said without elaborating. Kim also said South Korea's economy was viewed by participants at Jackson Hole as faring relatively well, compared with other emerging nations. At the weekend gathering International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde said central bank stimulus was needed to support the still-fragile global economy. As a pick-up in the US economy leads investors to bet on the Fed tapering its $85 billion a month bond-buying scheme soon, Lagarde said global policy makers should be thinking about the ramifications of such moves. She added that countries that are not pursuing easy money schemes need to "vigorously" pursue policies that will strengthen their economies for the medium term.