Major South Korean Banks' Household Loans Fall in September

SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Yonhap) -- Household loans by major banks fell for the first time in six months last month in the face of tight borrowing regulations, data showed Thursday.

Outstanding household loans at five major lenders -- KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Woori Bank and NH Nonghyup Bank -- stood at 780.83 trillion won (US$575 billion) as of end-September, down 1.28 trillion won from the previous month, according to data compiled by the banks.

Household loans have been on a steady rise since April this year due to a rise in mortgage and credit loans.

The fall in household loans by banks was mainly attributed to a decline in credit loans, which posted a decrease of 1.34 trillion won last month.

Mortgage loans, meanwhile, continued to rise, gaining 125 billion won in September to 621.39 trillion won at the end of last month, according to the data.

The Bank of Korea raised the benchmark interest rate to 3 percent over two straight meetings in July and August, marking the first back-to-back rate hikes since January 2023, when the central bank raised the rate at seven consecutive meetings starting in April 2022.