Outstanding household loan, extended by banks, amounted to 1,060.2 trillion won (886.5 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of January, down 400 billion won from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It marked the second straight month of decline, after sliding 200 billion won in December last year.
The continued fall in household debt came as the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25 percent in January, after lifting the rate by a quarter percentage point in August and November last year.
Mortgage loan to households increased by 2.2 trillion won, but credit loan shrank 2.6 trillion won last month.
Corporate loan, extended by banks, came to 1,079 trillion won at the end of January, up 13.3 trillion won from a month earlier.
Companies increased bank loan in the first month of this year, after repaying some of debts in December to adjust their debt ratio at the end of the year. (1 U.S. dollar equals 1,195.2 won)
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