Money supply remains flat in May amid restrictive policy: BOK

Bundles of Korean won notes are processed at the Bank of Korea headquarters in Jung District, Seoul, Feb. 5. Korea Times file

Korea's money supply remained unchanged in May compared with a month earlier amid an extended tightening policy mode, central bank data showed Monday.

The country's M2, a key gauge of the money supply, stood at 4,014 trillion won ($2.9 trillion) in May, flat from the previous month, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The M2 is a measure of the money supply that counts cash, demand deposits and other easily convertible financial instruments.

The central bank has been implementing a restrictive mode as it delivered seven consecutive hikes in borrowing costs from April 2022 to January 2023 to tame soaring inflation in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

Early this month, the BOK held its key interest rate steady at 3.5 percent for the 12th straight time amid moderating inflation. (Yonhap)