Industrial Bank of Korea CEO Cho Joon-hee unveiled his business policy to lower the maximum interest rate on loans to below 10 percent next year.

Under the CEO’s commitment, the state-run bank is poised to provide the lowest lending rates in the local commercial banking sector.

“We are pushing for the loan rate cut as households and enterprises are expected to suffer a heavier financial burden amid gloomy predictions over the 2012 economy,” Cho told reporters.

To make up for curtailed profit from the low lending rates, IBK plans to attract deposits from individual customers. The number of individual customers of IBK surpassed 10 million this year.

To attract depositors, the bank plans to increase the number of prefabricated offices in the streets, remodeled from pay phone booths, to more than 1,000 from the current 30 nationwide.

IBK is also set to increase its efforts to expand into overseas markets.

“When local enterprises advance to a country, we will shortly follow them,” Cho said.

Established in 1961, IBK has continued to focus on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises as a state-controlled lender.

In the long-term, the bank is set to prepare to become a comprehensive financial services provider.

Apart from traditional banking businesses, it has been enhancing its investment banking capability as it seeks to diversify its business portfolio.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)