SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's household debt growth hit a two-year low in the first month of this year as the government's effort to control speculative investment in the real estate market influenced demand for home purchase with borrowed money, central bank data showed Friday.
Debt owed by households to banks amounted to 828.7 trillion won (734.4 billion U.S. dollars) as of end-January, up 1.1 trillion won (975 million U.S. dollars) from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was the lowest monthly increase since January 2017 as the government unveiled a series of measures last year to restrict speculative investment in the property market such as the purchase of multiple homes with borrowed money.
The BOK raised its benchmark interest rate in November last year to 1.75 percent, increasing debt-serving burden for household debts.
The number of apartment transactions in the capital Seoul stood merely at 2,000 in January, down from 10,000 a year earlier.
Other household debt, including credit loan and credit line, reached 217 trillion won (192.3 billion U.S. dollars) as of end-January, down 1.5 trillion won (1.3 billion U.S. dollars) from a month earlier.
