Kookmin Bank secures US$200 mln in credit lines

SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Yonhap) -- Kookmin Bank, South Korea's top lender, said Tuesday it
has clinched US$200 million in foreign credit lines to help small and mid-sized
companies.
The credit lines, arranged with four foreign lenders, carry an interest rate of 3
percent above the London Interbank Offered Rate and are repayable over six months
at maximum, Kookmin said in a statement.
Kookmin didn't identify the foreign lenders. The money will be used to service
trade finances for local exporters and importers struggling under a global credit
freeze, the bank said.
The new lines of credit came on the heels of an additional US$210 million secured
in December last year in a similar deal, it said.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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