Bank lending rates fall for second month in Dec.

SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) - South Korean banks' lending rates fell for the second
straight month in December, in line with a decline in rates for corporate and
household loans, the central bank said Friday.
The average lending rate for households and companies reached 5.81 percent last
month, down 0.06 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the Bank of
Korea (BOK).
Lending rates to companies reached 5.79 percent last month, compared with 5.84
percent the previous month, the bank said.
Rates for household loans including mortgage lending dipped 0.05 percentage point
on-month to 5.95 percent in December. Home-backed lending rates reached 5.90
percent in December, up 0.03 percentage point from the previous month, the BOK
said.
Meanwhile, deposit rates reached an average 3.70 percent last month, up 0.16
percentage point from the previous month as local banks sold higher-yield
financial products to secure funds.
The BOK has conducted aggressive rate cuts in order to help pull the country out
of the worst economic downturn in more than a decade.
The central bank cut the rate by a total of 3.25 percentage points to a record
low of 2 percent between October 2008 and February last year.
sam@yna.co.kr
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