Korea’s money supply grows 5.2 percent in February

Korea’s money supply grew 5.2 percent in February from a year earlier as bank lending remained firm, the central bank said Wednesday.

The country’s M2, a narrow measure of money supply, amounted to 1,954 trillion won ($1.87 trillion) in February from a year earlier, compared with 1,937 trillion won in February, according to the Bank of Korea.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the country’s M2 advanced 1 percent in February from the previous month, quickening from a 1 percent on-month gain in January.

M2 covers currency in circulation and all types of deposits with a maturity of less than two years at lenders and nonbanking financial institutions, excluding those held by insurers and brokerage houses.

The BOK said in a separate statement that the growth of South Korea’s M2 is estimated to have remained in the low 5 percent range in March.

Korea’s liquidity aggregate, the broadest measure of money supply, grew 7.3 percent in February from a year ago, after rising 7.8 percent on-year in January, it added. (Yonhap)