2017-02-23 Thu

South Korea circulated a record number of 103.51 trillion won banknotes in January to support growth. The number is 6.1 trillion won more than the end of 2016.

Outstanding banknotes are actual bills in circulation and not cash in circulation which depends on market liquidity. 50,000-won more bills were introduced for circulation. 23 trillion won worth of 50,000-won bills were released last year which is the largest amount since 2009. Outstanding 50,000-won bills added up to 79.9 trillion won by the end of January and up 4.19 trillion won from the end of 2016.

The money multiplier that tracks the maximum amount of commercial bank money that can be created using fell to an all-time low of 16.7 in December. The country's key rate is set to as low as 1.25 percent since June 2016 to help support the economy. The interest rate could be raised since a freeze is expected.