ID :
100746
Sun, 01/17/2010 - 22:39
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/100746
The shortlink copeid
Household debt surges to record 68 pct of disposable income: BOK
SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's household credit reached a record 68.3
percent of disposable income, raising concerns for the country's overall economic
health, a central bank report said Sunday.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) said household credit or debt that includes outstanding
loans and credit purchases grew 5.4 percent on-year to reach 712.79 trillion won
(US$634.15 billion) as of last September.
Disposable income, on the other hand, edged up to 1,043.19 trillion won or a gain
of just 1.5 percent from 1,027.58 trillion won tallied for the year before, it
said.
A rise in outstanding debt causes a drop in the buying power of consumers that
can hurt manufacturing production and the service sector. Such developments all
affect economic growth.
The rise in disposable income, the report said, is the lowest since the minus 0.5
percent reported in late June, 1999 when the country struggled to overcome the
Asian financial crisis.
The i said the much faster pace of growth in debt vis-a-vis disposable income
caused the former to rise 2.5 percentage points from 65.8 percent recorded in
September 2008.
Household debt has been on the rise in recent years starting from 465.20 trillion
won in September 2004, to 558.81 trillion won two years later and topping 610.64
trillion in 2007.
The proportion of disposable income to debt has grown from 57.1 percent in 2004
to 62.5 percent in 2006 and 64.1 percent as of late September 2007, the report
said.
Adjusted for inflation, the ratio of household debt reached 80 percent of income
in the third quarter of last year.
This is slight improvement from 81 percent recorded in the first and second
quarters, respectively, but the highest since January-March in 2003 when the
numbers reached 83 percent.
BOK sources, meanwhile, said there is a chance that household debt against
disposable income may remain high in the first half of this year, a development
that can adversely affect the country's economic recovery efforts.
After growing an estimated 0.2 percent on-year last year, Seoul hopes to pull off
5 percent growth in the new year.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)
percent of disposable income, raising concerns for the country's overall economic
health, a central bank report said Sunday.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) said household credit or debt that includes outstanding
loans and credit purchases grew 5.4 percent on-year to reach 712.79 trillion won
(US$634.15 billion) as of last September.
Disposable income, on the other hand, edged up to 1,043.19 trillion won or a gain
of just 1.5 percent from 1,027.58 trillion won tallied for the year before, it
said.
A rise in outstanding debt causes a drop in the buying power of consumers that
can hurt manufacturing production and the service sector. Such developments all
affect economic growth.
The rise in disposable income, the report said, is the lowest since the minus 0.5
percent reported in late June, 1999 when the country struggled to overcome the
Asian financial crisis.
The i said the much faster pace of growth in debt vis-a-vis disposable income
caused the former to rise 2.5 percentage points from 65.8 percent recorded in
September 2008.
Household debt has been on the rise in recent years starting from 465.20 trillion
won in September 2004, to 558.81 trillion won two years later and topping 610.64
trillion in 2007.
The proportion of disposable income to debt has grown from 57.1 percent in 2004
to 62.5 percent in 2006 and 64.1 percent as of late September 2007, the report
said.
Adjusted for inflation, the ratio of household debt reached 80 percent of income
in the third quarter of last year.
This is slight improvement from 81 percent recorded in the first and second
quarters, respectively, but the highest since January-March in 2003 when the
numbers reached 83 percent.
BOK sources, meanwhile, said there is a chance that household debt against
disposable income may remain high in the first half of this year, a development
that can adversely affect the country's economic recovery efforts.
After growing an estimated 0.2 percent on-year last year, Seoul hopes to pull off
5 percent growth in the new year.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)
