Money supply slightly up in Sept. amid high interest rates

SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's money supply inched up in September from a month earlier as deposits at banks increased amid high interest payments, central bank data showed Tuesday.

The country's M2, a key gauge of money supply, stood at 3,744.2 trillion won (US$2.82 trillion) on average in August, compared with 3,744.1 trillion won a month earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

On a year-on-year basis, the money supply grew 6.6 percent.

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

Banks' time deposits jumped 30.5 trillion won over the cited period, boosted by rising interest payments in line with the BOK's rate hikes to combat inflation.

On-demand savings, however, shrank 11 trillion won over the same period. Money market funds also declined 10.3 trillion won, the data showed.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
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