SEOUL, May 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's household debts rose faster in April than the previous month as tightened standard for mortgage loans increased demand for credit loans, central bank data showed Monday.
Debts owed by households to all of financial institutions, including banks, savings banks, credit unions and insurers, expanded by 7.3 trillion won (6.8 billion U.S. dollars) in April after growing 5 trillion won (4.7 billion U.S. dollars) in the previous month, according to joint data by the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the Financial Services Commission.
Households moved to borrow money based on credit as banks tightened standard for home-backed loans to control speculative investment in the real estate market.
Mortgage loans to households gained 2.4 trillion won (2.25 billion U.S. dollars) in April, while credit loans advanced 4.9 trillion won (4.6 billion U.S. dollars).
During the January-April period, household debts increased 20.6 trillion won (19.3 billion U.S. dollars). It was down from expansions of 26.8 trillion won (25.1 billion U.S. dollars) and 22.5 trillion won (21.1 billion U.S. dollars) in the same period of 2016 and 2017, respectively.
Despite the slower growth, household debts kept rising as the BOK kept its target rate at a record-low level.
The BOK raised its benchmark rate in November last year to 1.50 percent from an all-time low of 1.25 percent, the first rate increase in almost six and a half years.