Bank lending rates on new household loans inched up in March and interest rates paid by banks on new deposits remained unchanged, central bank data showed Wednesday.
The average interest rates on fresh household loans extended by local banks came to 3.43 percent in March, up 0.05 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea.
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(Yonhap) |
The BOK data came amid South Korea's efforts to tackle rising household debt.
South Korea's outstanding household credit -- which is composed of household loans and credit card spending -- came to 1,344.3 trillion won ($1.2 trillion) at the end of 2016, up 11.7 percent from a year earlier.
The average interest rates on new mortgages came to 3.21 percent in March, up 0.02 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the BOK.
The average interest rates on all new loans stood at 3.48 percent in March, up 0.03 percentage point from a month earlier.
The rates on new corporate loans came to 3.53 percent, up 0.04 percentage point from the previous month.
The average rates paid by banks on fresh deposits remained unchanged at 1.49 percent in March. The gap between the interest rates paid to and by banks came to 1.99 percentage points in March, up from the 1.96-percentage point difference in February. (Yonhap)
