April 19, 2024
Finance
Household credit growth eases in Q4
[THE INVESTOR] The growth pace of Korea’s household credit eased in the fourth quarter last year, the central bank said on Feb. 22.
The country’s outstanding household debt stood at 1,450.9 trillion won (US$1.34 trillion) in the October-December period last year, up 8.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the preliminary data by the Bank of Korea.
It slowed from a 9.5 percent gain a quarter earlier and a 10.4 percent expansion in the second quarter of last year.
Household credit -- which is composed of household loans and credit card spending -- rose 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year from the previous quarter, the latest data showed.
The government has tightened lending rules as part of its effort to curb ever-growing household debt, which economists fear could dampen consumer spending going forward and hold up growth.
By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)
