S. Korea's industrial lending posts double-digit growth in Q2
Source: Xinhua | 2020-09-03
South Korea's industrial lending posted double-digit growth in the second quarter as the self-employed and companies borrowed operational funds to maintain business amid the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Wednesday.
Debts, owed by industrial companies to deposit-taking lenders, reached 1,328.2 trillion won (1.12 trillion U.S. dollars) as of end-June, up 69.1 trillion won (58.3 billion U.S. dollars), or 14.2 percent, from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It marked the biggest quarterly increase since relevant data began to be compiled in the first quarter of 2008.
The self-employed and companies borrowed money from deposit-takers to run business, hit hard by the economic slump from the COVID-19 outbreak.
Demand for operational fund soared 52.1 trillion won (43.9 billion U.S. dollars) during the second quarter.
Lending to the services industry jumped 47.2 trillion won (39.8 billion U.S. dollars) during the April-June quarter as people refrained from outside activities such as shopping, traveling and eating out.
Lending to the manufacturing and construction sectors rose 17.2 trillion won (14.5 billion U.S. dollars) and 2.5 trillion won (2.1 billion U.S. dollars) respectively.
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