Household loan growth stays in $67.9 mil range for 3rd month in December

The growth pace of household loans has continued to remain subdued in December amid tougher loan curbs, industry data showed Tuesday.

According to the data, the outstanding household loans extended by the five major banks — KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Woori Bank and Nonghyup Bank — totaled 734.39 trillion won ($498 billion) as of Monday, up 1.06 trillion won from a month earlier.

The December tally marks a gain in the 1 trillion-won range for the third consecutive month since October.

Mortgage loans gained 1.45 trillion won on-month to stand at 578.45 trillion won as of Monday, while other types of personal loans declined 189 billion won to 103.97 trillion over the cited period.

Corporate loans to large firms declined 2.25 trillion won this month to 161.38 trillion won, and those to smaller firms also dropped 3.1 trillion won to 662.86 trillion won, according to the data.

Alarmed by soaring household loans, the financial regulator has introduced a series of tougher curbs on loan extensions, prompting local banks to raise mortgage rates.

Last month, South Korea's central bank slashed its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point for the second consecutive session to 3 percent while hinting at possible additional cuts down the road after delivering bleaker growth projections amid slowing exports and uncertainties stemming from the incoming Donald Trump administration.

It marked the first back-to-back rate reduction since February 2009, when the country was reeling from the aftermath of the global financial crisis the previous year. (Yonhap)