South Korea's household loans extended by banks rose 9 percent in August from a year earlier due to increased mortgages and other bank loans, central bank data showed Tuesday.
Outstanding household loans from lenders came to 744.2 trillion won ($658 billion) as of the end of last month, vis-a-vis 682.4 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea.
Compared with July, the amount rose by 6.5 trillion won.
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(Yonhap) |
Mortgages climbed 3.1 trillion won on-month to 557.7 trillion won in August, while other bank loans, including lending through an overdraft line of credit, jumped 3.4 trillion won on-month to 185.7 trillion won.
The BOK partly attributed the other increased bank loans to the launching of two Internet-only banks.
Internet banks have gained popularity among South Koreans as the banks offer services ranging from ordinary deposits to loans without face-to-face contact with customers and without bank branches.
The hike came despite the government's tightened lending rules meant to curb rapidly growing household debt.
South Korea's overall household debt came to 1,388.3 trillion won as of end-June, up 10.4 percent from a year earlier, according to data compiled by the BOK.
In August, banks' outstanding corporate loans came to 773.8 trillion won, up 2.9 trillion won from the previous month. (Yonhap)
