SEOUL, KOREA- The June balance of household loans by commercial and deposit banks has hit the record-high level. According to the Bank of Korea on July 9, the balance of loans made out to consumers in May was 659,987.7 billion won, up 3.4 trillion won from the previous month. The balance has kept increasing for the past three consecutive months.

 

This is the highest level in five months since the previous high of 659,858.3 billion won recorded in December last year. Lee Jae-ki, Bank of Korea senior manager responsible for financial statistics, said, "It may be due to the government's April 1 measure to stimulate the real estate market as well as the seasonal factor that May is traditionally a month for which many more home buyers take out mortgage loans."

 

With a rise in home buying, the home mortgage loan balance has increased by 2 trillion won. Other types of loans such as credit line have increased by 1.4 trillion won.