Koreans’ excess cash holdings up in Q1

Excess funds held by South Korean households and nonprofit agencies gained in the first three months of the year as consumption growth lagged behind income, central bank data showed Monday.

Their excess funds totaled 25.3 trillion won ($24.8 billion) in the January-March period, compared with 15.6 trillion won three months earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.

Excess funds are the volume of money that remains on the balance sheets of households after deposits and stock investments.

The first-quarter figure marks the highest level in three quarters since excess funds of households and nonprofit agencies came in at 26.7 trillion won in the April-June period last year.

The central bank credited the quarterly gain to seasonal and one-off factors stemming from the government’s property policy.

In April last year, the government unveiled a set of measures aimed at boosting the languid property market, including tax breaks for first-time homeowners. A temporary tax benefit came to an end in December. (Yonhap)