S.Korea's household debt keeps growing amid record-low borrowing cost
Source: Xinhua | 2020-11-12
South Korea's household debt kept growing last month amid the record-low borrowing cost, central bank data showed Wednesday.
Debt owed by households to banks stood at 968.5 trillion won (871.1 billion U.S. dollars) as of the end of October, up 10.6 trillion won (9.5 billion U.S. dollars) from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It marked the biggest October increase since relevant data began to be compiled in 2004.
The fast debt growth came as the BOK slashed its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to an all-time low of 0.50 percent in May. The central bank cut its target rate by 50 basis points in March.
Among the total, mortgage loan expanded 6.8 trillion won (6.1 billion U.S. dollars) in October, after rising 6.7 trillion won (6.0 billion U.S. dollars) in the previous month.
Other loans, including credit loan, increased 3.8 trillion won (3.4 billion U.S. dollars) last month, faster than a growth of 3.0 trillion won (2.7 billion U.S. dollars) in September.
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