South Korea’s idle money yet to be committed to long-term investment has hit a record high despite the efforts by the Bank of Korea(BOK) to provide liquidity for the market, reeling from the heightened uncertainty at home and abroad, by lowering the benchmark rates.
According to the central bank and the Korea Financial Investment Association on Monday, the short-term floating funds in the country stood at 958 trillion 993-point-seven billion won as of the end of May.
It is the first time the short-term floating capital has surpassed the 950 trillion-won mark. Compared with 866-point-three trillion won in May last year, the amount of the idle money has increased by a whopping 93 trillion won over the past year.
Of the funds, slightly over 80 trillion won was cash, while 189 trillion won was on demand deposits. The funds at savings deposits amounted to 454 trillion won, while those entrusted with the Money Market Fund(MMF) tallied 70 trillion won.
The short-term floating funds have continued to grow from some 539 trillion won in 2008 to 654 trillion won in 2010 and 666 trillion won in 2012 to 795 trillion won in 2014.