S.Korean households' surplus fund hits 4-year high in 2019
Xinhua
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SEOUL, April 8 (Xinhua) -- South Korean households' surplus fund hit a four-year high last year as the government's efforts to control speculative investment in the real estate market reduced borrowing by households, central bank data showed Wednesday.

Net financial fund, held by households including nonprofit organizations, gained 39.1 trillion won (32.1 billion U.S. dollars) over the year to 91.7 trillion won (75.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019, marking the biggest since 2015, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The net financial fund refers to fund management minus fund raising.

It came as home purchase by households with borrowed money weakened on the government's measures to curb speculative investment in the property market.

Fund, raised by households from financial institutions, contracted 15.7 trillion won (12.9 billion U.S. dollars) over the year to 88.4 trillion won (72.5 billion U.S. dollars).

Investment in financial assets by households climbed 23.4 trillion won (19.2 billion U.S. dollars) to 180.1 trillion won (147.7 billion U.S. dollars) last year.

Net fund raising by companies increased 28.5 trillion won (23.4 billion U.S. dollars) over the year to 72.9 trillion won (59.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019.

It was attributed to the weakened corporate profitability amid the global economic slowdown.

Corporate investment in financial products slumped 33.5 trillion won (27.5 billion U.S. dollars) to 110.9 trillion won (90.9 billion U.S. dollars), while corporate fund raising through the issuance of financial products fell 5 trillion won (4.1 billion U.S. dollars) to 183.8 trillion won (150.7 billion U.S. dollars).