The stimulus measures that the government has announced over the past few months were aimed at restoring confidence, the finance minister said Monday, adding that the longer-term objective is to improve overall economic fundamentals. 

Since taking office in July, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan has unveiled a set of stimulus measures, including 41 trillion won

(US$38.8 billion) fiscal spending plans aimed at providing a much-needed jolt to the slowing economic recovery.

"They are emergency measures to restore self-confidence in the short-term," Choi told lawmakers during a parliamentary audit session in Seoul. "What is more essential is to improve the economic fundamentals."

Asked about the outcome of the stimulus measures over the past three months, he said that it is too early to talk about the effect, promising to keep up efforts to achieve the intended objectives. 

As for worries over possible discrepancies in assessing the current state of the economy with the central bank, Choi said that the government and the Bank of Korea (BOK) have no differences in a broad context. 

"If any, it would be due to the different objectives of the establishments of each agency. The government is focused on job creation and economic growth, while the BOK tends to have a more conservative stance to stabilize financial markets and prices. This is not a discrepancy but a sound check and balance."

He refuted the criticism that his stimulus drive dubbed "Choinomics" resulted in a spike in household debts, saying there is an "inevitability" that certain economic policies are necessary at particular moments. 

A growing amount of household debt is viewed as a major drag on the Korean economy. Experts worry that the government's property stimulus measures, including easing housing loans regulations, could exasperate the debt problem and put the economy at a systemic risk. 

Choi said that he shared the concerns that if household debt grows "beyond the level of the government's control," it could significantly hurt households' consumption capacity but noted that the chances are "low" that the debt problem could turn into a systemic risk. 

"Still, we will keep tabs on this issue with a sense of urgency," he said.

With regard to the worries that rate hikes in the United States could destabilize the financial market here by prompmting capital outflows, the minister said that the country is well prepared for it, considering its ample amount of foreign reserves, continued current account surplus and relatively healthy fiscal health. He added that capital outflows, if any, would be "limited."

He also said that the government is closely monitoring the property market and consulting with related ministries and agencies to come up with countermeasures against rising home rental prices.

But he noted that the government will not consider "excessive"

market intervention. (Yonhap)