The weighted average rate for new bank loans dipped 0.10 percentage points from a month earlier to an annualized 5.04 percent in January, after sliding 0.12 percentage points in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
Expectations emerged for the BOK to lower its key rate later this year following expected rate cuts in the United States.
The BOK had left its policy rate unchanged at 3.50 percent since January last year, after hiking it by 3.0 percentage points for the past one and a half years.
The rate for banks' new corporate loans retreated 0.07 percentage points over the month to 5.22 percent in January.
The lending rate for big corporations slipped 0.12 percentage points to 5.16 percent, and the rate for small companies decreased 0.03 percentage points to 5.28 percent.
The rate for new bank loans to households declined 0.14 percentage points to 4.68 percent in January compared with the previous month.
The mortgage loan rate for households dwindled by 0.17 percentage points to 3.99 percent, and the credit loan rate diminished by 0.20 percentage points to 6.38 percent.
The weighted average rate for fresh bank deposits shrank 0.18 percentage points over the month to an annualized 3.67 percent in January.
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