By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter

Investors are being cautious with their cash and liquid assets as they are worried over risky assets, funds and properties.

According to the Bank of Korea, cash-equivalent liquid assets recorded 645.5 trillion won in September, up 87.6 trillion won from a year ago.

Included in these are cash and demand deposits, as well as money market funds (MMF), certificates of deposit (CD), cash management accounts (CMA), and repurchase agreements (RP).

Cho Yoon-hee, a salaried worker in Seoul, withdrew 100 million won from an equity fund and keeps it in a three-month demand deposit account, which has an annual interest rate of 3 percent.

"I pondered over where to invest the money but I had no idea. Everything seems so uncertain," the 32-year-old office worker said. Cho is not the only person who can't decide where to invest.

Statistics show that destinations for funds are decreasing. Short-term funds marked only a 4.8 percent year-on-year increase in December. In March, however, they marked a 12.8 percent rise, and they grew by 15.7 percent in September.

Money put in short-term deposits that mature in less than six months increased by 19.4 percent this year, with 45.5 trillion won placed in such products.

Banks said that customers want to manage money over the short-term as they expect an interest rate hike in the near future.

The stock market, meanwhile, became sluggish again after a short rally. The government's strengthening of debt-to-income (DTI) regulation in mortgages also cooled down the real estate market.

The increase of short-term liquid funds, however, isn't helping the economy. "Banks need long-term funds so that they can lend money to businesses," the Samsung Economic Research Institute said in a report.

chizpizza@koreatimes.co.kr