Korea's money supply rises amid tightening policy

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Korea's money supply rose for the third consecutive month in August amid a tightening policy, central bank data showed Tuesday.

The country's M2, a key gauge of the money supply, stood at 3,829 trillion won ($2.83 trillion) in August, up 0.2 percent from a month earlier, following the previous month's 0.7 percent gain and a 0.3 percent advance in June, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The M2 is a measure of the money supply that includes cash, checking deposits and other types of deposits readily convertible to cash.

The central bank has also been implementing its tightening policy mode, as the BOK delivered seven consecutive hikes in borrowing costs from April 2022 to January 2023 to tame soaring inflation in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

In August, the central bank held its key interest rate steady at 3.5 percent for the fifth straight time.

Yonhap