Household credit, which refers to debts owed by households to banks and other lenders in addition to the purchase on credit, amounted to 1,862.8 trillion won (1.4 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of June, up 9.5 trillion won (7.1 billion dollars) from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The household credit declined in the fourth quarter of last year and in the first quarter of this year on higher policy rates, but it turned around in the second quarter thanks to the offer of government-backed mortgage loans to prop up the faltering housing market.
The central bank had left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.50 percent since January, after lifting it by 3.0 percentage points for the past one and a half years.
Excluding the purchase on credit, the household debts added 10.1 trillion won (7.6 billion dollars) from three months earlier to 1,748.9 trillion won (1.3 trillion dollars) at the end of June.
Mortgage loans to households soared 14.1 trillion won (10.5 billion dollars) during the April-June quarter, but other loans such as credit loans reduced 4.0 trillion won (2.9 billion dollars).
The purchase on credit retreated 600 billion won (448.5 million dollars) in the cited quarter, continuing to slide for the second successive quarter.
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