Savings Banks' Deposits Surpass 70 Trillion Won... Increased by 4 Trillion Won in Q2 Alone

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Deposits and savings entrusted to savings banks have surpassed 70 trillion won. This is interpreted as a result of continued low interest rates, leading people to use savings banks that offer higher interest.

According to the Bank of Korea's Economic Statistics System on the 17th, as of the end of June, the total deposit balance of domestic savings banks was 70.708 trillion won. Following surpassing 60 trillion won in June last year, it has crossed the 70 trillion won mark exactly one year later.

Savings bank deposits have sharply increased in the second quarter of this year. Compared to the previous month, deposits surged by 1.4016 trillion won in April, 1.5946 trillion won in May, and 960 billion won in June. The increase over three months approaches 4 trillion won.

After the Bank of Korea lowered the base interest rate to 0.5% at the Monetary Policy Committee meeting in May, commercial bank deposit interest rates fell below 1% annually for the first time ever.

Although savings bank deposit interest rates are also at historically low levels, they remain higher than those of commercial banks, attracting investors seeking even slightly higher returns to entrust their funds.

According to the Korea Federation of Savings Banks, as of June 1, the average annual interest rate for 12-month fixed deposits at 79 savings banks was 1.91%. The average annual interest rate for 12-month installment savings reached 2.50%.

As of the end of June, the total loan amount of domestic savings banks was 69.3475 trillion won, an increase of 322.8 billion won compared to the end of the previous month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.