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| ▲ This undated file photo shows a pedestrian walking past a bulletin board in Seoul that promotes mortgage loans. (Yonhap) |
household loans-June tally
Banks' household loans up for 3rd month in June amid high borrowing costs
SEOUL, July 12 (Yonhap) -- Household loans extended by banks in South Korea rose for the third straight month in June on increased demand for home-backed loans amid high borrowing costs, data showed Wednesday.
Banks' outstanding household loans came to 1,062.3 trillion won (US$822 billion) as of end-June, up 5.9 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The June tally marks the third consecutive month of an on-month rise following a 4.2 trillion won rise in May and a 2.3 trillion won gain in April.
In the first six months of the year, banks' household loans increased 4.2 trillion won, the data showed.
Banks' home-backed loans rose 7 trillion won on-month to 814 trillion won in June, while unsecured and other types of loans fell 1.1 trillion won to 246.1 trillion won over the cited period, according to the data.
Borrowing costs in Asia's fourth-largest economy remain high following the BOK's aggressive monetary tightening aimed at bringing surging inflation under control.
In May, the BOK kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 3.5 percent, the third straight month of a rate freeze in the face of an extended slowdown in exports amid easing inflationary pressure.
The rate freezes came after the BOK had delivered seven consecutive hikes in borrowing costs since April last year.
Last year, outstanding household loans slipped for the first time in 18 years amid higher rates.
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