The Korea Herald

지나쌤

Bank lending rates on household loans rebound in Sept.

By 임정요

Published : Oct. 27, 2016 - 13:22

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Bank lending rates on new household loans rebounded in September for the first time in six months and interest paid by banks on new deposits also increased, central bank data showed Thursday.

The average interest rate on fresh household loans extended by local banks came to 3.03 percent last month, up 0.08 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.

The BOK data came a week before the government is set to announce a set of measures to cool the country's housing market that has shown signs of overheating in recent months.

South Korea's household borrowings reached a record high of 1,257.3 trillion won ($1.149 trillion) as of end-June.

The government has already vowed to control the supply of new apartments in a bid to curb demand for mortgages, the main culprit behind soaring household debt in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

The average interest rate on new mortgages came to 2.80 percent in September, up 0.10 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the BOK.

The average interest rate on all new loans stood at 3.27 percent, up 0.04 percentage point from a month earlier. The rate on new corporate loans came to 3.37 percent, down 0.01 percentage point from the previous month.

The average rate paid by banks on fresh deposits gained 0.04 percentage point to 1.35 percent over the cited period.

The gap between the interest rates paid to and by banks remained unchanged at 1.92 percent from the previous month. (Yonhap)