Swap Volume Increased by 20%
The central banks of South Korea and Australia have agreed to extend their currency swap contract by three years after expanding the swap volume by 20 percent to US$8.1 billion, the Bank of Korea announced on Feb. 6.
As a result, the Korean-Australian currency swap will increase from the current 10 billion Australian dollars/9 trillion won to 12 billion Australian dollars/9.6 trillion won. The currency swap will hold for three years until Feb. 5, 2023, and may be extended upon a mutual agreement.
Australia signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea in 2014 and their bilateral trade volume stood at US$28.5 billion as of 2019. The Australian dollar is a reserve currency of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and ranks fifth in foreign exchange trading.