S.Korea's money supply keeps growing in April

South Korea's money supply kept growing in April despite efforts to counter inflation, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The M2, or broad money, amounted to 3,667.1 trillion won (2.84 trillion U.S. dollars) in April, up 9.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The broad money continued to rise despite efforts to rein in runaway inflation. The BOK began to raise its benchmark interest rate since August last year, hiking the rate by 25 basis points to 1.50 percent in April.

The M1, or narrow money, advanced 9.5 percent in April on a yearly basis.

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 8.0 percent in the cited month. The year-over-year increase of liquidity aggregate, the broadest measure of money supply, was 7.4 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.