South Korean households' bank deposits grew at the fastest pace in more than six years in the first quarter amid a lack of promising investment opportunities. 

According to data from the Bank of Korea on Wednesday, the outstanding amount of household bank savings came to 614-point-three trillion won as of the end of March, up 14-point-23 trillion won from three months earlier.

It was the largest quarterly increase since the fourth quarter of 2011, when the amount expanded by 15-point-84 trillion won.

The quarterly increase was partly due to the central bank’s key rate hike in November last year. The central bank marked up its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to one-point-five percent.