SEOUL, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Surplus fund held by South Korean households stayed low in the first quarter as households bought new home with extra fund, central bank data showed Wednesday.
Net surplus fund owned by households and nonprofit organizations was 16.9 trillion won (15.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-March quarter, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was the second-lowest first-quarter figure, hovering far below 25.9 trillion won (23.2 billion U.S. dollars) that is an average first-quarter surplus fund of households from 2009 to 2017.
The net surplus fund means households' managed assets, including deposits, bonds, insurance and pension, minus households' debts owed to financial institutions.
Surplus funds possessed by households stayed at a low level as households rushed to buy new home.
Housing transactions in the first quarter was 233,000, higher than the first-quarter average of 198,000 tallied from 2009 to 2017.
Fund borrowed by households fell to 22.8 trillion won (20.4 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter from 35.4 trillion won (31.7 billion U.S. dollars) in the previous quarter as banks tightened loan standard amid record-breaking debts.
The BOK is widely forecast to raise its benchmark interest rate of 1.5 percent in the near future as the U.S. Federal Reserve increased its target rate in June to a range of 1.75-2.00 percent.
