SEOUL, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korean banks' household lending growth slowed last month due to the faltering real estate market, central bank data showed Monday.
Debt owed by households to deposit-taking banks rose 3.9 trillion won (2.8 billion U.S. dollars) from a month earlier to 1,139.5 trillion won (817 billion dollars) at the end of October, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It continued to increase since April on lower borrowing costs, but the growth pace slowed down from an expansion of 5.6 trillion won (4 billion dollars) in September on the back of the housing market sluggishness.
The number of apartment transactions across the country shrank from 48,000 in July to 42,000 in August and 30,000 in September.
The BOK cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.25 percent in October, marking the first rate decrease in almost four and a half years since May 2020.
Banks' mortgage loan gained 3.6 trillion won (2.6 billion dollars) last month after swelling 6.1 trillion won (4.4 billion dollars) in the previous month.
Other loans to households, including credit loan, credit line and commercial real estate-backed loan, advanced 300 billion won (215.1 million dollars).
Banks' corporate loan stood at 1,324.3 trillion won (949.5 billion dollars) at the end of October, up 8.1 trillion won (5.8 billion dollars) from a month earlier.
Lending to big companies climbed 2.9 trillion won (2.1 billion dollars), while loan to small firms mounted 5.3 trillion won (3.8 billion dollars) last month. ■