ID :
35273
Sat, 12/13/2008 - 05:07
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/35273
The shortlink copeid
KAMCO to buy 1 tln won bad loans from banks
(ATTN: ADDS more details in last two paras)
SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Yonhap) -- State-run debt clearer Korea Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO) will buy 1 trillion won (US$732 million) worth of bad loans from lenders this month, and buy more bad assets from mutual savings banks, its chief said Friday.
"Before the end of the year, we will buy 1 trillion won in bad loans from banks,"
Lee Chol-hwi told reporters.
South Korean lenders, led by Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank, have been struggling
to manage a rising amount of bad loans and declining property prices.
Bad assets are dragging down local lenders' capital adequacy ratios. The average
capital adequacy ratio stood at 10.79 percent at the end of September, the lowest
in over seven years.
KAMCO also plans to buy more bad assets from mutual savings banks as an
increasing amount of loans extended to fund construction projects have turned
sour, Lee said. Last month, the agency said it would buy 1.3 trillion won worth
of bad loans from mutual savings banks.
The measure came amid concerns that the South Korean economy, Asia's
fourth-largest, may face a steep decline in growth due to a sharper-than-expected
drop in exports and weak domestic demand.
The Bank of Korea, the country's central bank, said earlier in the day that the
economy is expected to grow 2 percent next year, slowing from this year's
estimated 3.7 percent advance. The growth estimate, if realized, would be the
lowest since 1998 when the economy shrank 6.9 percent in the wake of the Asian
financial crisis.
Lee said KAMCO is also considering buying part of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s
distressed assets in Japan and bad assets from Merrill Lynch & Co. in Asia
without elaborating on details.
Lehman Brothers, which went bankrupt in September amid a global credit crunch, is
set to liquidate its Asian property investments and loans.
sam@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Yonhap) -- State-run debt clearer Korea Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO) will buy 1 trillion won (US$732 million) worth of bad loans from lenders this month, and buy more bad assets from mutual savings banks, its chief said Friday.
"Before the end of the year, we will buy 1 trillion won in bad loans from banks,"
Lee Chol-hwi told reporters.
South Korean lenders, led by Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank, have been struggling
to manage a rising amount of bad loans and declining property prices.
Bad assets are dragging down local lenders' capital adequacy ratios. The average
capital adequacy ratio stood at 10.79 percent at the end of September, the lowest
in over seven years.
KAMCO also plans to buy more bad assets from mutual savings banks as an
increasing amount of loans extended to fund construction projects have turned
sour, Lee said. Last month, the agency said it would buy 1.3 trillion won worth
of bad loans from mutual savings banks.
The measure came amid concerns that the South Korean economy, Asia's
fourth-largest, may face a steep decline in growth due to a sharper-than-expected
drop in exports and weak domestic demand.
The Bank of Korea, the country's central bank, said earlier in the day that the
economy is expected to grow 2 percent next year, slowing from this year's
estimated 3.7 percent advance. The growth estimate, if realized, would be the
lowest since 1998 when the economy shrank 6.9 percent in the wake of the Asian
financial crisis.
Lee said KAMCO is also considering buying part of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s
distressed assets in Japan and bad assets from Merrill Lynch & Co. in Asia
without elaborating on details.
Lehman Brothers, which went bankrupt in September amid a global credit crunch, is
set to liquidate its Asian property investments and loans.
sam@yna.co.kr
(END)
