April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korean savings banks’ outstanding loans surged nearly 20 percent in October from a year earlier, topping the 50 trillion-won (US$46 billion) mark for the first time in six years, central bank data showed on Dec. 20.

Savings banks’ outstanding household and corporate loans came to 50.1 trillion won as of the end of October, up 19.8 percent from a year ago, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.

Analysts said such loans had been growing at a fast clip since mid-2014 amid softer property regulations and easier access to credit due to low interest rates.

The surge also resulted partly from government measures to cool an overheating housing market and thus curb snowballing household debt, which prompted those with poor credit to turn from commercial lenders to savings banks.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)