S.Korean banks' bad loan ratio inches up in October

Source: Xinhua | 2019-12-27

South Korean banks' bad loan ratio inched up in October due to a slight growth in new delinquent loans, financial watchdog data showed Thursday.

The ratio of bank loans overdue at least one month stood at 0.46 percent of the total as of the end of October, up 0.02 percentage points from a month earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

New delinquent loans amounted to 1.4 trillion won (1.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the month, larger than the resolution of delinquent loans worth 1 trillion won (861 million U.S. dollars).

The delinquency ratio for corporate loan added 0.03 percentage points to 0.60 percent in the cited period, with the figure for household loan rising 0.01 percentage point to 0.29 percent.

From a year earlier, the bad loan ratio declined 0.12 percentage points as of the end of October amid the record-low borrowing cost.

The country's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate from 1.75 percent to 1.50 percent in July, before lowering it further to a record low of 1.25 percent in October.