SEOUL, April 8 (Xinhua) -- South Korean households' stock investment and borrowing hit a record high last year as people rushed to buy stocks with borrowed money amid an ample liquidity, central bank data showed Thursday.
Net money management by households and non-profit organizations amounted to 192.1 trillion won (172.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020, more than doubling the 92.2 trillion won (82.5 billion U.S. dollars) in the previous year, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It surpassed the previous high of 95 trillion won (85.2 billion U.S. dollars) tallied in 2015. The net money management refers to the management in securities and deposits minus borrowing from financial institutions.
The money management reached a fresh high of 365.6 trillion won (327.7 billion U.S. dollars) last year.
Among the total, the management in equity securities and investment funds surged by 80.5 trillion won (72.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the year.
Households bought domestic stocks worth 63.2 trillion won (56.7 billion U.S. dollars) and foreign shares worth 20.1 trillion won (18 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020, both topping the previous highs.
The stock buying was funded by borrowed money. Households borrowed 171.7 trillion won (153.9 billion U.S. dollars) from financial institutions last year, logging a new record high.
The stock investment with borrowed money came amid the surging liquidity. The BOK left its key rate steady at an all-time low of 0.50 percent since May last year to tackle an economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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