Seoul [South Korea], December 27: South Korean banks' lending rate rose for the third successive month on the prolongation of restrictive monetary policy, central bank data showed Wednesday.
The weighted average rate for new bank loans gained 0.02 percentage points from a month earlier to an annualized 5.26 percent in November, continuing to go up since September, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The BOK has left its policy rate unchanged at 3.50 percent since January, after increasing it by 3.0 percentage points for the past one and a half years.
Rate for banks' new corporate loans advanced 0.03 percentage points over the month to 5.36 percent in November.
The lending rate for big corporations slipped 0.01 percentage point to 5.29 percent, but the rate for small companies increased 0.07 percentage points to 5.42 percent.
Rate for new bank loans to households stood unchanged at 5.04 percent in November compared with the previous month.
Mortgage loan rate for households retreated 0.08 percentage points to 4.48 percent, but credit loan rate picked up 0.04 percentage points to 6.85 percent.
The weighted average rate for new bank deposits added 0.04 percentage points over the month to an annualized 3.99 percent in November.
Source: Xinhua