SEOUL (XINHUA) – South Korea’s industrial lending grew in the second quarter due to the real estate market recovery, central bank data showed yesterday.
Debts owed by all industries to deposit-taking financial institutions amounted to KRW1,842.8 trillion (USD1.38 trillion) at the end of June, up KRW24.3 trillion (USD18.2 billion) from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The second-quarter growth became faster compared to the increase of KRW20.8 trillion (USD15.6 billion) in the previous quarter as the property market recovered amid the policy rate freeze.
The BOK left its policy rate unchanged at 3.5 per cent since January after hiking it by 3.0 percentage points for the past one and a half years.
Lending to the services industry, including the real estate sector, climbed KRW13.4 trillion (USD10 billion) during the April-June quarter.
Loan to manufacturers expanded KRW5.6 trillion (USD4.2 billion) during the second quarter while lending to the construction sector grew KRW1.9 trillion (USD1.4 billion).
The industrial lending for operating fund increased KRW9.3 trillion (USD7 billion) in the cited quarter, while the lending for facilities’ fund advanced KRW15 trillion (USD11.2 billion).
