S. Korean banks’ lending rate falls for 2nd month in July

SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) — South Korean banks’ lending rate fell for the second straight month in July on expectations for a policy rate cut later this year, central bank data showed Friday.
The weighted average rate for new bank loans shrank 0.16 percentage points over the month to an annualized 4.55 percent in July, after slipping 0.07 percentage points in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The continued fall came amid growing expectations for the central banks’ interest rate cut later this year.
The BOK has left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.50 percent since January last year.
Rate for banks’ new corporate loans dipped 0.10 percentage points to 4.78 percent in July compared to the previous month.
Lending rate for big corporations shed 0.11 percentage points to 4.89 percent, and rate for small companies declined 0.10 percentage points to 4.69 percent.
Rate for new bank loans to households tumbled 0.20 percentage points to 4.06 percent in July on a monthly basis.
Mortgage loan rate for households dropped 0.21 percentage points to 3.50 percent, and credit loan rate went down 0.26 percentage points to 5.78 percent.
Weighted average rate for new bank deposits was down 0.10 percentage points over the month to an annualized 3.41 percent in July. ■