SEOUL, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korean banks' loan delinquency rate rose for a second consecutive month due to more new delinquent loans than bad loan settlements, financial watchdog data showed Friday.
The delinquency ratio of bank loans, overdue by at least one month, gained 0.06 percentage points from a month earlier to 0.69 percent at the end of August, after going up 0.07 percentage points in the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
Newly generated delinquent loans reached 3.0 trillion won (2.3 billion U.S. dollars) in the cited month, larger than the settlement of non-performing loans worth 1.5 trillion won.
Excluding the settled bad loans, the delinquency rate for new bank loans stood at 0.12 percent in August, unchanged compared to the previous month.
The delinquency rate for corporate loans increased 0.08 percentage points from a month earlier to 0.86 percent at the end of August, and the ratio for household loans added 0.03 percentage points to 0.45 percent.
The financial watchdog cautioned that there remained a possibility of a gain in delinquency rate among vulnerable groups, affected by the trend of interest rate hikes and economic uncertainties both at home and abroad.
The country's central bank delivered back-to-back policy rate hikes in July and August, indicating a further monetary tightening later this year or early next year. ■
