December Household Loan Growth Slows at 5 Major Banks... Mortgage Loans Maintain 1 Trillion Won Level

As the government's household debt management policy continues, the increase in household loans at the five major banks slowed down last month.

As of the end of last month, the outstanding household loans at the five major commercial banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH Nonghyup) amounted to 734.135 trillion won, an increase of 7.963 billion won from 733.3387 trillion won in November. The increase was smaller than in October (1.1141 trillion won) and November (1.2575 trillion won). This figure is also lower than in July (7.166 trillion won) and August (9.6259 trillion won).

However, the increase in mortgage loans expanded. The outstanding mortgage loans reached 578.4635 trillion won, increasing by 1.4698 trillion won compared to the previous month. Although the increase was significantly smaller than in July (7.5975 trillion won) and August (9.9115 trillion won), it was higher than in November (1.325 trillion won) and has maintained an increase of over 1 trillion won for three consecutive months since October (1.0923 trillion won).

Last year, the outstanding household loans increased by 41.7256 trillion won compared to 2023. This is a significant rise compared to the 124.1 billion won decrease throughout 2023. This upward trend was driven by mortgage loans. The outstanding mortgage loans increased by 48.5713 trillion won over the year.

As the Bank of Korea continued to lower the base interest rate, banks consecutively reduced deposit interest rates, leading to a decrease in fixed deposit balances. Last month, the fixed deposit balance was 927.0916 trillion won, down by 21.1285 trillion won from 948.2201 trillion won in November.

Yonhap News

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