S. Korea's money supply growth slows in Aug.

SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's money supply grew at a slower pace in
August than the previous month on eased growth in bank lending, the central bank
said Thursday.
The country's liquidity aggregate, the widest measure of the money supply,
reached 2,432.5 trillion won (US$2.08 trillion) as of the end of August, up 8.9
percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
August's readings slowed from a 9.7 percent on-year expansion in July, it added.
The liquidity aggregate covers currency in circulation, all types of deposits at
financial institutions and state and corporate bonds.
Meanwhile, the country's M2, a narrower measure of its money supply, expanded 10
percent in August, accelerating from a 9.7 percent annual gain a month earlier.
M2 covers currency in circulation and all types of deposits with maturity less
than two years at lenders and non-banking financial institutions, excluding those
at insurers and brokerage houses.
The BOK said in a separate statement that M2 is estimated to have grown in the
low-9 percent range in September as slowed growth in bank lending offset the
effects of the country's rising current account surplus and increased stock
investment by foreign investors.
The data comes a day before the BOK makes its monthly interest-rate decision.
Korea's central bank is widely forecast to freeze the benchmark seven-day repo
rate at a record low of 2 percent for the eighth consecutive month. It lowered
the rate by a total of 3.25 percentage points between October and February,
trying to put the brakes on a sharp economic free-fall.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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