SEOUL, Nov. 17 (Korea Bizwire) – Mounting household debt in South Korea is a major risk factor that could undermine financial stability and economic growth of Asia’s fourth-largest economy, but the country’s fundamental soundness and pre-emptive measures could help resolve such problems, a former Moody’s analyst said Tuesday. “(A U.S. rate hike) will have effects [...]
“(The BOK) will likely proceed in the direction of sustaining its accommodative stance as it is difficult to be positive about domestic economic recovery. Policy circumstances may rapidly change due to factors such as a possible U.S. rate hike, but there is a need to be prudent in adjusting the stance of the monetary policy [...]
SEOUL, March 12 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s central bank unexpectedly slashed the base rate to a record low of 1.75 percent on Thursday, putting efforts to shore up growth on top of concerns over persistent household debt growth. The rate cut is the first since October, when the Bank of Korea (BOK) brought down the [...]
SEOUL, March 11 (Korea Bizwire) – Household loan growth at South Korean banks more than doubled in February from a month earlier on robust property transactions and solid demand for loans amid low interest rates, central bank data showed Wednesday. Household loans, which include mortgage lending, extended by local lenders reached 566 trillion won (US$503 [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 30 percent of households said they took on new debt within the past two years since 2012. This is mainly due to the Bank of Korea‘s benchmark interest rate cuts in two occasions this year and the government’s measures to relax the regulation on the loan-to-value ratio and [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – Korea’s economic actors, including households, firms, and governments, have all exceeded the critical point of debt burden as set by the World Economic Forum. According to Congressman Lee Hahn-koo (New Frontier Party), the ratios of debt to the gross domestic products as of the end of 2013 for households, firms, and [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – A “loan shark” is a derogatory term referring to a person or body that offers loans at extremely high interest rates. Interest rates are so high that their lending practices are often being accused of exploiting a borrower’s financial troubles. Cash loans to people in dire need of money, [...]
SEOUL, Sep. 28 (Korea Bizwire) – The balance of money surplus held by Korean households has approached to the 30-trillion-won level during the second quarter of this year, due to weak private consumption. This is the highest level since the Bank of Korea changed the way it compiles the data in the first quarter in [...]
SEOUL, Korea, Mar 20 (Korea Bizwire) – Among Korean households, there is an increasing number of those who are suffering from the lack of money to spend, not to mention for money to save. The economic burden to the households is not limited to the decline in income and increasing debt. The main cause of [...]
SEOUL, Korea, Feb 18 (Korea Bizwire) – Hyundai Economic Research Institute has published a report “Household Debt 1,000 Trillion Won and How to Address the Problem by income Group.” The following is an excerpt: The volume of household debt is estimated at 992 trillion won as of the end of September 2013. It is expected to [...]