Korean financial firms' household lending rises

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By Kim Soo-yeon
SEOUL, June 16 (Yonhap) -- The growth of South Korean financial firms' household
lending increased in April on the back of rising 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 and marking the first rise in four months.

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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