 |
| ▲ This file photo, taken July 18, 2023, shows information about a bank's loan programs in Seoul. (Yonhap) |
household loans-October tally
Banks' household loans up for 7th month in October amid high rates
SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- Household loans extended by banks in South Korea rose for the seventh straight month in October, led by rising home-backed loans amid high borrowing costs, central bank data showed Wednesday.
Banks' outstanding household loans had come to 1,086.6 trillion won (US$833.6 billion) as of end-October, up 6.8 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The October gain accelerated from a 4.8 trillion won rise the previous month and marks an on-month rise for seventh months in a row, the data showed.
Banks' home-backed loans rose 5.8 trillion won to 839.6 trillion won last month, slowing from a 6.1 trillion won on-month gain the previous month, while unsecured and other types of loans rose 1 trillion won to 245.7 trillion won over the cited period, according to the data.
Borrowing costs in Asia's fourth-largest economy remain high following the BOK's aggressive monetary tightening aimed at bringing surging inflation under control.
Early this month, South Korea's central bank held its key interest rate steady at 3.5 percent for the sixth straight time amid a slowdown in growth and heightened uncertainties, such as the prolonged Ukraine-Russia war and rising household debts.
This marked the sixth straight time that the BOK has stood pat following rate freezes in February, April, May, July and August. The rate freezes came after the BOK delivered seven consecutive rate hikes from April 2022 to January 2023.
Last year, outstanding household loans slipped for the first time in 18 years amid higher rates.
Banks' loans to companies also continued to rise amid high demand.
Corporate loans extended by banks rose 8.1 trillion won last month, slowing from an 11.3 trillion won rise the previous month, a record for any September since the central bank began to compile related data on a monthly basis in June 2009, the data showed.
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
