SEOUL, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The delinquency ratio of the South Korean peer-to-peer (P2P) lending firms hit a record high in April as the lending to property development projects turned sour, an industry data showed Monday.
The average delinquency ratio of 45 local P2P lending firms came in at 8.5 percent as of the end of April, according to the Korea P2P Finance Association cited by local media.
It was the highest since the association began compiling the data in June 2016. The ratio surged from 1.77 percent in April of 2018 and 0.89 percent in the same month of 2017 each.
The ratio is the portion of loans overdue at least one month. The P2P lending refers to a new type of loans through social network services and the Internet, extended to a wide range of borrowers such as startups, the self-employed and individuals.
About half of the total P2P lending firms posted their delinquency ratios at zero, but eight recorded the ratio above 20 percent as they focused on the lending to property development projects.
The property market was cooled down as the government unveiled a set of measures to curb speculative investment in the real estate market.
The P2P lending firms were largely unregulated as five bills to regulate the sector, proposed by lawmakers, had yet to be passed through the National Assembly amid the political wrangling among rival parties over the amendment of the election law.
