S.Korea's money supply growth slows down in September

SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's money supply growth slowed down in September due to fast interest rate hikes, central bank data showed Tuesday.

The seasonally-adjusted M2, or broad money, stood at 3,744.2 trillion won (2.83 trillion U.S. dollars) in September, up 6.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It was lower than a 7.2-percent increase in the previous month amid the policy rate hikes.

The BOK began to tighten its monetary policy stance in August last year, hiking its key rate in eight steps from 0.5 percent to 3.0 percent.

The M1, or narrow money, decreased 0.4 percent in September on a yearly basis.

The M1 refers to currency in circulation, demand deposit and transferable savings deposit equivalent to cash. The M2 adds money market fund, time deposit and financial products that mature in less than two years.

The liquidity of financial institutions, called Lf, gained 6.0 percent in the cited month. The year-over-year increase of liquidity aggregate, the broadest measure of money supply, was 6.7 percent.

The Lf includes financial products with a maturity of more than two years and liquidity at insurers and brokerages along with M2. The liquidity aggregate adds state and corporate bonds to the Lf.