SEOUL ― South Korean banks’ household lending rose for the fourth straight month due to strong demand for mortgage loan, central bank data showed on Monday.
Debt owed by households to deposit-taking banks grew 5.5 trillion won ($4 billion) from a month earlier to 1,120.8 trillion won ($821.2 billion) at the end of July, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It continued to increase since April on expectations for policy rate cuts by the end of this year.
The BOK had left its policy rate unchanged at 3.50 percent since January last year after raising it by 3.0 percentage points for the past one and a half years.
Banks’ mortgage loan expanded 5.6 trillion won ($4.1 billion) in the cited month on eased regulations to prop up housing prices.
Other loans to households, including credit loan, credit line and commercial real estate-backed loan, decreased by 100 billion won ($73.3 million) last month.
Banks’ corporate loan amounted to 1,304.7 trillion won ($955.9 billion) at the end of July, up 7.8 trillion won ($5.7 billion) from a month earlier.
Lending to big companies swelled 4.4 trillion won ($3.2 billion), and loan to small firms added 3.4 trillion won ($2.5 billion) last month.
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