SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's household debt continued to grow last month amid the record-low policy rate, central bank data showed Wednesday.
Debt, owed by households to banks, amounted to 936.5 trillion won (790 billion U.S. dollars) as of the end of July, up 7.6 trillion won (6.4 billion U.S. dollars) from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It was the fastest July increase since relevant data began to be compiled in 2004, but it was down from 8.2 trillion-won (6.9 billion U.S. dollars) expansion tallied in June.
The continued growth came after the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to an all-time low of 0.50 percent in May. The policy rate was slashed by 50 basis points in March.
Banks' mortgage loan to households gained 4.0 trillion won (3.4 billion U.S. dollars) from a month earlier to 689.8 trillion won (581.9 billion U.S. dollars) as of the end of July. It was down from 5.1 trillion-won (4.3 billion U.S. dollars) increase in June.
Other loan to households, including credit loan, advanced 3.7 trillion won (3.1 billion U.S. dollars) in the cited month, marking the fastest monthly increase in 21 months since October 2018.
Banks' corporate loan reached 955.1 trillion won (805.7 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of July, up 8.3 trillion won (7 billion U.S. dollars) from a month earlier.
Bank loan to big corporations rose 1.9 trillion won (1.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the month, while those to small firms and the self-employed expanded 6.4 trillion won (5.4 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem
