Money supply grows 1.5 pct. on-month in August

SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's money supply continued to grow in August from a month earlier on increased corporate fundraising and lending for home purchases and renting, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The country's M2, a key gauge of money supply, stood at 3,494.4 trillion won (US$2.91 trillion) as of end-August, up 1.5 percent, or 50.5 trillion won, from a month earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

This represented the sharpest on-month growth since April. The increased amount marked the largest monthly growth since relevant data begun to be provided.

From a year earlier, the figure jumped 12.5 percent, which also accelerated from on-year growth of 11.4 percent recorded the previous month.

M2 is a measure of the money supply that counts cash, demand deposits and other near money that is easily convertible to cash.

The BOK attributed the August increase to large-scale corporate fundraising and a continued rise in households' borrowing for home purchases and renting.

Also contributing to the rise was more demand from small and medium-sized enterprises to secure reserve funds for their operation, the central bank said.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
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