Korea's M2 money supply grew at a fast clip in January, with the rise in liquidity of households and financial institutes picking up pace, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The M2 came to 2,266.9 trillion won as of end-January, up 1.1 percent from revised 2,241.6 trillion won the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

From a year earlier, the January tally marks an 8.1 percent increase, quickening from a 7.5 percent on-year gain in December.

The M2 refers to currency in circulation, including bank debentures and deposits with a maturity of less than two years, along with stock investments. It, however, does not include government or corporate bonds.

The large increase was attributed to growth in liquidity of households and financial institutes here such as banks.

Households and non-profit organizations posted the largest growth in liquidity, which gained 8.4 trillion won from a month earlier to 1,204.5 trillion won as of end-January.

Money supply held by local firms only gained 0.7 percent or 4.2 trillion won on-month to 586.3 trillion won, while the liquidity of financial institutes spiked 2.3 percent or 8.1 trillion won to 358.3 trillion won.

Apparently reflecting continued woes in the local and global financial markets, households and businesses sought safer investment opportunities.

In January, fixed bank deposits with a maturity of less than two years jumped 10.5 trillion won from the previous month with short-term deposits also surging 10.9 trillion won.

The amount invested in money market funds, on the other hand, only added 2 trillion won from a month earlier to some 65 trillion won as of end-January. (Yonhap)