Banks' loan delinquency rate inches up in January

The delinquency rate for South Korean banks' won-denominated loans edged up in January from the previous month, the financial regulator said Wednesday.

The rate for bank loans more than 30 days overdue stood at 0.31 percent at the end of January, up 0.03 percentage point from the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

Compared with a year earlier, the bank loan delinquency rate was down 0.1 percentage point.

Banks' loan delinquency rate remains stable mainly because the government has encouraged local lenders to extend loan maturity or delay interest payments to help households and firms struggling to cope with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The delinquency rate for corporate loans rose 0.05 percentage point on-month to 0.39 percent in January, and the figure for household loans inched up 0.01 percentage point to 0.21 percent. (Yonhap)