SEOUL, May 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's household credit growth slowed in the first quarter as the government's efforts to curb speculative investment in the real estate market weakened demand for mortgage loans, central bank data showed Wednesday.
The household credit, which includes debts owed by households to banks and other financial institutions as well as purchase on credit, amounted to 1,540 trillion won (1.3 trillion U.S. dollars) as of end-March, up 3.3 trillion won (2.8 billion U.S. dollars) from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was the lowest quarterly expansion in six years since the first quarter of 2013 when the household credit reduced.
From a year earlier, the household debt grew 71.8 trillion won (60 billion U.S. dollars), or 4.9 percent, at the end of March. It was the lowest percentage growth since it recorded an increase of 4.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004.
The rising pace of household debt continued to slow down as the government of President Moon Jae-in, who took office two years earlier, unveiled a set of measures to control speculative investment in the property market.
The number of housing transactions nationwide stood at 145,000 in the January-March quarter, down 68,000 from the previous quarter. The figure for apartment trading declined by 19,000 in the period.
