North Korea is said to be seeking a change in its financial system to address capital shortages.
 
Kim Chon-gyun, head of the North Korea’s central bank, said in a recent interview with the Choson Sinbo, a pro-Pyongyang newspaper in Japan, that the country is trying to better circulate domestically hoarded money to meet the demand for cash in the developing country’s economy.
 
He said that the regime is developing various financial products as part of the efforts as well as encouraging its people to use credit cards.
 
Kim added that the regime is in the process of improving financial measures necessary for the business activities of the country’s state-run economic institutions and companies.
 
The North implemented the so-called July 1 economic management reform measures in July 2002 to give more autonomy to the companies and raise salaries for the workers. But the measures fizzled out after a pilot project, due in large part to the absence of the financial systems that could back them up.