Lack of Attractive Investment
It has been found that the total cash asset of South Korean enterprises soared to top 600 trillion won for the second time.
The Bank of Korea announced on August 15 that South Korea’s M2 totaled 2.337 quadrillion won (US$2.032 trillion) as of the end of June this year and enterprises accounted for 26.3% of it, 614.7399 trillion won (US$533.9 billion) to be specific. M2 is a currency index consisting of cash and easily cashable short-term financial products such as demand deposits, money market savings deposits and time deposits with a maturity of less than two years.
South Korean enterprises’ M2 reached 604.715 trillion won (US$525.2 billion) at the end of March this year, breaking the 600 trillion won (US$521.7 billion) mark for the first time. It edged down to 594.5345 trillion won (US$516.9 billion) in the following month and edged up to 596.0606 trillion won (US&518.2 billion) in May. In June alone, the amount increased by 18.6893 trillion won (US$16.2 billion) to hit a new high.
The increment recorded in June this year is the largest since records began in December 2001. The amount of the currency owned by enterprises soared by no less than 117.8768 trillion won (US$102 billion) compared to June 2013, too.