SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Banks' household debts in South Korea continued to rise last month, marking the largest monthly growth this year, on the back of record-low interest rates, central bank data showed on Thursday.
Household debts offered by banks reached 682.4 trillion won (623.9 billion U.S. dollars) as of end-August, up 8.7 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was the largest monthly increase this year, up from a 6.3 trillion-won growth in July. The figure also posted the second-biggest expansion since the bank began compiling the data in 2008.
The fast increase came as the BOK cut its benchmark interest rate in June to an all-time low of 1.25 percent. Concerns remained about massive household debts that would weigh down on private consumption due to debt-servicing burden.
Mortgage loans increased 6.2 trillion won over the month to 512.7 trillion won at the end of last month. The monthly growth was the biggest since December last year.
Housing transactions kept rising in August, an off-season month when demand for home trading is usually weak. Apartment transactions in capital Seoul reached 12,000 in August.
Corporate debts by banks amounted to 750.9 trillion won as of end-August, up 2 trillion won from a month ago.
Bank debts to big corporations were almost unchanged at 164.3 trillion won as of end-August, while those to small companies increased 1.9 trillion won last month.
