Delinquency rate on bank loans rises in July

The delinquency rate on loans extended by local banks rose from a month earlier in July, data showed Friday. The delinquency rate on banks' won-denominated loans came to 0.47 percent as of end-July, up 0.05 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. The on-month increase was attributed to a rise in newly delinquent loans, which amounted to 2.7 trillion won (US$2.03 billion), up 400 billion won from a month earlier, while the amount of resolved loans fell sharply to 1.5 trillion won from 4.4 trillion won in June. The delinquency rate on household loans reached 0.38 percent at end-July, up 0.02 percentage point from a month earlier, while the rate on corporate loans gained 0.07 percentage point to 0.53 percent over the cited period. The report comes amid growing concerns over household debts, which jumped to a 37-month high of 9.3 trillion won in August, following a 5.5 trillion-won increase in July, the financial regulator said earlier. Source: Y onhap News Agency