SEOUL, May 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korean banks' household lending rose for the third straight month due to strong demand for mortgage loan, central bank data showed Wednesday.
Debt owed by households to deposit-taking banks totaled 1,150.1 trillion won (810.4 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of April, up 4.8 trillion won (3.4 billion dollars) from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It has continued to expand since February as higher housing transactions boosted demand for home-backed loan.
Banks' mortgage loan grew 3.7 trillion won (2.6 billion dollars) last month, while other loans to households, including credit loan, credit line and commercial real estate-backed loan, added 1.0 trillion won (704.7 million dollars).
The country's housing market showed signs of recovery. The number of apartment transactions nationwide mounted from 26,000 in January to 38,000 in February and 50,000 in March.
The BOK lowered its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.75 percent in February after cutting it by the same percentage point in October and November last year.
Banks' corporate loan ran to 1,338.7 trillion won (943.3 billion dollars) at the end of April, up 14.4 trillion won (10.2 billion dollars) from a month earlier.
Lending to big companies increased 6.7 trillion won (4.7 billion dollars), while loan to small firms swelled 7.6 trillion won (5.4 billion dollars) last month. ■
