Korea’s financial asset size increased at a much slower pace in 2011 due to sluggish economic growth, the central bank said Thursday.

The Bank of Korea said the country’s financial asset value stood at 10,894.4 trillion won ($9.65 trillion) as of the end of December, up 5.5 percent or 565.8 trillion won from a year earlier. The growth rate is the lowest reached since 2003.

“The drop can be attributed to the country’s weak growth rate that fell to 3.8 percent last year from 6.2 percent reached in 2010,” the BOK said.

Of the total, cash holdings and deposits made up 18.3 percent or about 1997.2 trillion won, with bonds and stocks accounting for 19.2 percent and 16.9 percent of the total each. Assets in insurance and pensions also made up 5.4 percent.

The central bank said the proportion of cash holdings and loans increased slightly compared to the year before, while numbers for stocks and invested stakes dipped.

The latest report, meanwhile, showed households and non-profit organizations controlling a combined 2,303.4 trillion won in assets last year, with non-financial businesses and financial firms managing 1,688.2 trillion won and 5,048.4 trillion won, respectively. The government also owned 886.5 trillion won worth of financial assets last year. 

(Yonhap News)