Woori Bank secures US$100-mln foreign loan

(ATTN: ADDS Busan Bank in 8-9th para)
SEOUL, March 9 (Yonhap) -- Woori Bank, South Korea's third-largest lender, said
Monday it has borrowed US$100 million from a European lender in an effort to
boost its foreign capital base.
The one-year debt carries an interest rate of 3.4 percentage points, higher than
the London Interbank Offered Rate, the state-owned bank said in a statement.
The deal comes after the lender agreed with Australian investment bank Macquarie
Group last week to set up a $1 billion fund for investments in South Korea.
"Woori Bank has secured stable foreign currency liquidity by diversifying dollar
funding methods," a bank official said.
The lender said it is also set to announce a $200 million loan from a U.S. bank
with a maturity of two years.
Meanwhile, Hana Bank, South Korea's fourth-largest lender, said it is mulling
floating $500 million in government-guaranteed overseas bonds.
The foreign debt sales would make Hana Bank the first lender to tap into the
government's $100 billion guarantee program, set up in October to alleviate
dollar liquidity problems.
Joining the fund-raising efforts, provincial lender Busan Bank also said it will
bring in $200 million from Calyon Bank and other European lenders.
The loan will pay interest rates of 3.4-5.9 percentage points higher than the
London Interbank Offered Rate and is repayable over 18 months at maximum, said
the lender based in Busan, South Korea's second-largest city on the southeastern
coast.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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