ID :
69566
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 19:59
Auther :
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https://oananews.org//node/69566
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea's money supply growth hits near 3-year low in May
By Kim Soo-yeon
SEOUL, July 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's money supply grew at the slowest clip in
almost three years in May as local banks remained wary of expanding loans amid
the slumping economy, the central bank said Wednesday.
The country's M2, a narrower measure of its money supply, reached 1,491.5
trillion won (US$1.17 trillion) in May, up 9.9 percent from a year earlier,
according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). May's growth slowed from an annual 10.6
percent gain in April and marked the lowest expansion since Sept. 2006 when it
grew at 8.9 percent.
M2 covers currency in circulation and all types of deposits with maturity less
than two years at lenders and non-banking financial institutions, excluding those
at insurers and brokerage houses.
"Despite the current account surplus, the M2 expansion eased as lending by
financial firms to the private sector slowed," said Kim Hwa-yong, a BOK official.
According to the BOK, credit supplied by local financial firms to companies grew
11.8 percent in May from a year earlier, slowing from a 13.6 percent advance the
previous month. Their loans to households rose 6.2 percent on-year, compared with
a 6.5 percent gain in April.
Meanwhile, the country's narrowest gauge of its money supply, or M1, grew at a
slower clip in May than the previous month although investors continued to manage
money on a short-term basis amid a protracted economic slump.
South Korea's M1 advanced an annual 17 percent in May, down 17.4 percent from the
previous month, the BOK said. In April, the M1 rose at the fastest pace in more
than six years. M1 covers currency in circulation, demand deposits and savings at
money market deposit accounts.
The nation's liquidity aggregate, the widest measure of the money supply,
amounted to 2,396.1 trillion won as of the end of May, up 9.5 percent from a year
earlier, it added.
The data comes a day before the BOK makes its monthly interest-rate decision. The
central bank is widely forecast to freeze the benchmark seven-day repo rate at a
record low of 2 percent for the fifth straight month.
The bank made six consecutive rate cuts totaling 3.25 percentage points between
October and February in a bid to bolster the slowing economy.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, July 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's money supply grew at the slowest clip in
almost three years in May as local banks remained wary of expanding loans amid
the slumping economy, the central bank said Wednesday.
The country's M2, a narrower measure of its money supply, reached 1,491.5
trillion won (US$1.17 trillion) in May, up 9.9 percent from a year earlier,
according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). May's growth slowed from an annual 10.6
percent gain in April and marked the lowest expansion since Sept. 2006 when it
grew at 8.9 percent.
M2 covers currency in circulation and all types of deposits with maturity less
than two years at lenders and non-banking financial institutions, excluding those
at insurers and brokerage houses.
"Despite the current account surplus, the M2 expansion eased as lending by
financial firms to the private sector slowed," said Kim Hwa-yong, a BOK official.
According to the BOK, credit supplied by local financial firms to companies grew
11.8 percent in May from a year earlier, slowing from a 13.6 percent advance the
previous month. Their loans to households rose 6.2 percent on-year, compared with
a 6.5 percent gain in April.
Meanwhile, the country's narrowest gauge of its money supply, or M1, grew at a
slower clip in May than the previous month although investors continued to manage
money on a short-term basis amid a protracted economic slump.
South Korea's M1 advanced an annual 17 percent in May, down 17.4 percent from the
previous month, the BOK said. In April, the M1 rose at the fastest pace in more
than six years. M1 covers currency in circulation, demand deposits and savings at
money market deposit accounts.
The nation's liquidity aggregate, the widest measure of the money supply,
amounted to 2,396.1 trillion won as of the end of May, up 9.5 percent from a year
earlier, it added.
The data comes a day before the BOK makes its monthly interest-rate decision. The
central bank is widely forecast to freeze the benchmark seven-day repo rate at a
record low of 2 percent for the fifth straight month.
The bank made six consecutive rate cuts totaling 3.25 percentage points between
October and February in a bid to bolster the slowing economy.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
