April 24, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] The growth pace of Korea’s household credit slowed down for five straight quarters but hit a fresh record high in the first three months of the year, central bank data showed on May 23.

The country’s outstanding household debt jumped to a record 1,468 trillion won (US$1.36 trillion) in the January-March period, up 8 percent from a year earlier, preliminary data by the Bank of Korea showed.

The on-year growth rate has been on a decline since it hit 11.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016. Also, the 8 percent gain is the lowest since the first quarter of 2015, when it was 7.4 percent.

From a quarter earlier, household credit -- which is composed of household loans and credit card spending -- rose 17.2 trillion won on-quarter in the first quarter, compared with a 31.6 trillion won expansion in the previous three-month period.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)