Savings institutions' industrial loans grow at slower pace in Q4

• Published date: 08 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

Korean savings institutions' loans continued to grow in the fourth quarter but at a slower pace than three months earlier due to stepped-up efforts to monitor the soundness of borrowers, central bank data showed Wednesday.

Outstanding industrial loans extended by banks and non-bank depository institutions came to 1,797.7 trillion won ($1.36 trillion) at the end of last year, up 28 trillion won from a quarter earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.

From a year earlier, the amount expanded by 217 trillion won.

The lending to businesses continued to rise but at a slower pace than a 56.6 trillion-won increase tallied three months earlier.

The BOK said that demand for borrowing remained high amid...