SEOUL, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Money supply in South Korea kept a growth momentum in January as the country's benchmark interest rate has stayed at a record-low level for a protracted period, central bank data showed on Thursday.
The M2, dubbed broad money, increased 6.9 percent in January from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was down from a 7.5 percent expansion in December, but the growth rate stayed at a relatively high level as the BOK cut its policy rate from 3.25 percent in July 2014 to an all-time low of 1.25 percent in June last year.
The M1, also called narrow money, jumped 11.6 percent in January compared with a year ago.
The M1 covers currency in circulation, demand deposit and transferable savings deposit equivalent to cash. The M2 adds money market fund, money trust, time deposit and financial products that mature in less than two years to M1.
Liquidity of financial institutions, called Lf, advanced 8.0 percent in January from a year earlier. The on-year gain of liquidity aggregate, the broadest measure of money supply, was 6.8 percent in the same month.
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.
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