SEOUL, March 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's bank loan delinquency ratio inched up in the first month of this year, financial watchdog data showed Monday.
The delinquency rate stood at 0.42 percent as of the end of January, up 0.06 percentage points from a month ago, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.
Despite the monthly rise, the financial watchdog saw a continued downward trend. The ratio fell from 0.71 percent in January 2015 to 0.67 percent in the same month of 2016 and 0.53 percent of 2017 respectively.
The bad debt ratio for corporate loans by banks rose 0.09 percentage points over the month to 0.56 percent as of end-January, but it was down 0.17 percentage points from a year earlier.
The ratio for household debts came in at 0.18 percent as of end-January, up 0.01 percentage point from a month earlier but down 0.03 percentage points from a year ago.
