Household Loans Drop by 200 Bln Won in Q1

Household loans during the first quarter have dropped by 200 billion won, or around 147 million U.S. dollars, compared to the previous quarter, turning to a reduction for the first time in four quarters.

According to the Bank of Korea(BOK) on Tuesday, provisional data from the January-to-March period showed that the household debt balance was some one-point-eight trillion won as of the end of March, down 200 billion won from three months earlier.

The drop was attributed to a slowdown in the rise of housing mortgage loans, with the margin of increase falling from 15-point-two trillion won in the fourth quarter last year to 12-point-four trillion won in Q1 this year.

Other loans, such as credit loans, dropped by 12-point-six trillion won, continuing a ten-quarter streak of decline.

 

Amid a decrease in credit card use, households’ sales credit balance was 115-point-eight trillion won, down two-point-three trillion won from three months earlier.