SEOUL, June 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korean banks' household lending rose for the second consecutive month due to strong demand for mortgage loan, central bank data showed Wednesday.
Debt owed by households to deposit-taking banks expanded 6.0 trillion won (4.4 billion U.S. dollars) from a month earlier to 1,109.6 trillion won (805.9 billion dollars) at the end of May, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was faster than an increase of 5.0 trillion won (3.6 billion dollars) in the previous month on expectations for policy rate cuts by the end of this year.
The BOK had left its policy rate unchanged at 3.50 percent since January last year after raising it by 3.0 percentage points for the past one and a half years.
Banks' mortgage loan climbed 5.7 trillion won (4.1 billion dollars) in the cited month, while other loans to households, including credit loan, credit line and commercial real estate-backed loan, grew 300 billion won (217.9 million dollars).
Banks' corporate loan amounted to 1,291.6 trillion won (938.2 billion dollars) at the end of May, up 6.9 trillion won (5 billion dollars) from a month earlier.
Lending to big companies swelled 1.1 trillion won (79.9 million dollars), and loan to small firms mounted 5.8 trillion won (4.2 billion dollars) last month. ■
