S.Korea's money supply growth slows in October

South Korea's money supply growth kept slowing in October due to interest rate hikes, central bank data showed Tuesday.

The seasonally-adjusted M2, or broad money, stood at 3,757.9 trillion won (2.87 trillion U.S. dollars) in October, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It was lower than the increases of 6.6 percent in September and 7.2 percent in August amid policy rate hikes.

The BOK began to tighten its monetary policy stance in August last year, hiking its policy rate from a record low of 0.50 percent to 3.25 percent.

The M1, or narrow money, decreased 3.5 percent in October 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 5.6 percent in the cited month. The year-over-year increase of liquidity aggregate, which is the broadest measure of money supply, was 5.9 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.