Korean financial firms' household lending rises

By Kim Soo-yeon
SEOUL, June 16 (Yonhap) -- The growth of South Korean financial firms' household
lending increased in April as non-banking financial institutions extended more
home-backed loans, the central bank said Tuesday.

Outstanding household loans by commercial banks and non-banking financial
institutions amounted to 519.8 trillion won (US$410.3 billion) as of the end of
April, up 2.5 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea
(BOK). The April figure compared with a 1.8 trillion won increase the previous
month, it added.
Banks' household loans gained 1.3 trillion won to 393.4 trillion won, slowing
from a 1.9 trillion won expansion in March. Such lending by non-banking financial
firms including mutual savings banks rose 1.2 trillion won, rebounding from a 0.1
trillion won fall the previous month.
Mortgage loans extended by local banks amounted to 248.5 trillion won in April,
up 1.2 trillion won from a month earlier. Their growth has slowed since February
when home-backed loans rose 3.3 trillion won, marking the largest monthly gain in
more than two years on the back of record-low borrowing costs.
On Thursday, the BOK froze its key interest rate at a record low of 2 percent for
the fourth straight month, saying that a freefall in the local economy has
stopped. Between October and February, the bank had made six consecutive rate
cuts totaling 3.25 percentage points.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
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