SEOUL: Annual growth in South Korea's broadest measure of money supply ticked up in August from a 3-month low set in July but stayed relatively low as the economy cooled, central bank data showed on Wednesday.
The L-money supply measure -- which includes all cash, all types of deposits at financial institutions and all money market instruments issued -- rose 9.2 percent in August from a year earlier, the Bank of Korea data showed.
It was up from a 9.0 percent gain in July but was close to an average of 9.1 percent growth seen for the past six months.
Meanwhile, bank lending to households fell by a net 0.8 trillion won ($720.2 million) in September, compared with a net 1.5 trillion won rise in August and marking the third monthly fall this year, separate data from the central bank showed.
Apart from the economic slump, South Korea's bank lending to households has also been hit by government measures introduced last year to contain further growth in heavy debts owed by households.
In contrast, bank lending to small- and medium-sized enterprises jumped by a net 5.1 trillion won in September, the most since July 2008, underscoring growing financial troubles for businesses from the economic slowdown.
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