Seoul: The delinquency rate on loans extended by local banks in South Korea continued to rise in February, primarily due to an increase in soured loans extended to companies, data revealed on Friday. The delinquency rate on banks' won-denominated loans increased by 0.05 percentage points from the previous month, reaching 0.58 percent by the end of February, according to preliminary data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
According to Yonhap News Agency, the amount of newly delinquent loans amounted to 2.9 trillion won (US$2.04 billion) in February, a decrease from the 3.2 trillion won recorded the previous month. Meanwhile, the amount of write-offs of bad loans rose by 0.8 trillion won to reach 1.8 trillion won during the same period.
The data also indicated that the delinquency rate on corporate loans was at 0.68 percent at the end of February, marking an increase of 0.07 percentage points from a month earlier. In contrast, the rate on household loans remained stable at 0.43 percent over the same period, as reported by the FSS.