Seo Jeong-suk, financial and monetary statistics workforce chief of Bank of Korea (BOK), speaks on preliminary family credit score information at BOK in Jung District, Seoul, Feb. 20. Courtesy of BOK
Korea’s family credit score progress slowed within the fourth quarter of the 12 months as home-backed loans took a breather amid excessive borrowing prices, central financial institution information confirmed Tuesday.
Outstanding family credit score reached 1,886.4 trillion gained ($1.41 trillion) on the finish of December 2023, up 8 trillion gained from three months earlier, in accordance with the preliminary information from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The fourth-quarter rise slowed from the earlier quarter’s document excessive of 17 trillion gained, in accordance with the information.
Household credit score refers to credit score purchases and loans to households by monetary establishments.
The rise in family loans got here regardless of excessive borrowing prices, pushed by the BOK’s sequence of rate of interest hikes to deliver inflation underneath management.
In January final 12 months, the BOK raised its key rate of interest by 1 / 4 of a share level to three.5 %, the seventh consecutive improve since April final 12 months.
But since then, the central financial institution has stored the speed unchanged amid slowing inflation and an financial slowdown.
Of the full, family loans stood at a document excessive of 1,768.3 trillion gained on the finish of December 2023, up 6.5 trillion gained from three months earlier.
Mortgage loans elevated by 15.2 trillion gained in the course of the fourth quarter of final 12 months, slowing from a document excessive of 17.4 trillion gained within the third quarter, and different kinds of family loans fell 8.7 trillion gained over the cited interval, in contrast with the earlier quarter’s 2.9 trillion gained fall. (Yonhap)
