S. Korea banks' household loan grows at 2-year high rate in June
- Source: Xinhua
- [08:51 July 09 2009]
- Comments
South Korean bank loans to households hit the fastest growth rate in more than two years in June on the back of a surge in home-backed loans, the central bank said Wednesday.
According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), as of end-June, outstanding banks' household loans came in at 399.5 trillion won ( 312.3 billion US dollars), up 4 trillion won (3.1 billion US dollars) from a month earlier.
The growth in June, marking the highest since December 2006 when the advance stood at 5 trillion won (3.9 billion US dollars) , compared with a 2.8 trillion won (2.2 billion US dollars), on- month rise
The BOK attributed the accelerated growth to expansion in mortgage loans caused by a record-low interest rate.
Local banks reached 254.4 trillion won (198.9 billion US dollars) as of end-June, marking an on-month growth of 3.5 trillion won (2.7 billion US dollars) which is the fastest growth since November 2006, according to the BOK.
The recent data comes a day before the BOK announces its monthly interest-rate decision.
The BOK has left the benchmark seven-day repo rate at a record low of 2 percent for the fifth straight month, after conducting six consecutive rate cuts totaling 3.25 percentage points between October and February.