S. Korean banks' loan delinquency ratio rebounds in October

SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- South Korean banks' loan delinquency ratio rebounded owing to more new delinquent loans than bad loan settlements, financial watchdog data showed Friday.

The ratio of bank loans, at least one month overdue, to the total gained 0.07 percentage points from a month earlier to 0.58 percent at the end of October, after sliding 0.10 percentage points in the previous month, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

New delinquent loans reached 2.9 trillion won (about 2.0 billion U.S. dollars) in the cited month, higher than the settlement of non-performing loans worth 1.3 trillion won (about 893.6 million dollars).

The delinquency ratio has roughly been on the rise after hitting a bottom of 0.20 percent in June 2022 on the back of lingering uncertainties over massive household debt.

Excluding the settled bad loans, the delinquency ratio for fresh bank loans was 0.12 percent in October, up from 0.10 percent in the previous month.

The delinquency ratio for bank corporate loan advanced 0.08 percentage points from a month earlier to 0.69 percent at the end of October, while the ratio for household loan added 0.03 percentage points to 0.42 percent. ■