SEOUL, May 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's money supply growth slowed in March on interest rate hikes, central bank data showed Friday.
The M2, or broad money, added 3.8 percent in March from a year earlier, after expanding 4.1 percent in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The BOK began to tighten its monetary policy stance in August 2021, hiking its policy rate by 3.0 percentage points to 3.50 percent in January.
The M1, or narrow money, went down 13.0 percent in March on a yearly basis, keeping a downward trend for the seventh consecutive month.
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 4.0 percent in the cited month, while the liquidity aggregate, the broadest measure of money supply, increased 4.5 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. ■