SEOUL, South Korea’s central bank supplied 4.2 trillion won (3.4 billion U.S. dollars) worth of fresh banknotes, to meet cash demand ahead of the Lunar New Year’s holiday, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said today.

The fresh banknotes have been put into circulation through local banks and other financial institutions, for the past 10 working days until today, to meet cash demand during the holiday, scheduled to last from tomorrow to Tuesday.

This year’s injected cash was down 19.3 percent from the previous year, as financial institutions already had sufficient cash amid the growing deposits, caused by higher interest rates.

During the holiday, demand tended to increase for new banknotes because of a South Korean tradition of the elders providing handsels, or cash gifts, for younger ones, as a token of good wishes and better luck.

Source: Nam News Network