Bank lending rates on household loans rise in Nov.

Bank lending rates on new household loans gained in November for the first time in six months ahead of the widely-expected rate hike in the United States, data showed Wednesday.

The average rate for new loans to households gained 0.1 percentage points from the previous month to 3.16 percent in November, according to the Bank of Korea.

It marked a turnaround from a five-month decline since June when the central bank announced a surprising rate cut, sending its policy rate to a record low of 1.5 percent.

The average rate on new home-backed loans also went up by 0.14 percentage points from a month earlier to 3.04 percent last month, also ending the five-month downward trend, the data showed.

"Lending rates overall have faced upward pressure since October, pricing in the Fed's rate hike, and it affected the borrowing cost for household loans," said BOK official Kang Jun-koo.

Earlier this month, the U.S. central bank, as long anticipated, raised federal fund rates by a quarter point to 0.25-0.50 percent for the first time in nearly a decade in a show of confidence in the world's largest economy.

The average lending rate on all new loans also moved up 0.02 percentage points to 3.44 percent, though the interest rate on fresh loans extended to businesses fell 0.01 percentage points to 3.56 percent.

The average interest rate paid by local lenders on new deposits also increased 0.08 percentage points from a month earlier to 1.66 percent in November, narrowing the gap between lending and deposit rates by 0.06 percentage points to 1.78 percent, according to the BOK. (Yonhap)