S. Korea's money supply increase 5.5 % in May

South Korea's money supply amounted to 1,784.2 trillion won or US$1.6 trillion in May, up 5.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.

In April, the M2, a narrow measure of the money supply, grew an identical 5.5 percent from the year before and the growth of the M2 stayed within the 5-percent range for the fourth straight month in May.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the country's M2 grew 0.3 percent in May from the previous month, slowing from a 0.6 percent expansion in April.

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

The bank said that economic uncertainty from the eurozone debt woes made households put more money into bank time deposits in May. But during the cited period, bank lending remained lackluster and foreigners pulled their stock funds out of Seoul markets.

The growth of South Korea's money supply largely accelerated after M2 growth hit a seven-year low of 3 percent in June 2011, it added.

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