SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's debt repayment ability marched up close to a two-year high in the third quarter thanks to rising stock prices, which strengthened financial assets, the central bank said Tuesday.

    According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), the ratio of financial assets-to-debt, held by individuals, reached 2.29 as of end-September, rising from 2.23 three months earlier.

    The figure for the July-September period stood at the highest level since the end of 2009 when the ratio posted 2.3.

    As of end-September, financial assets held by individuals topped 1,917.5 trillion won (1.65 trillion U.S. dollars), up 4.8 percent from the previous quarter, while their debts stood at 836.8 trillion won (718.2 billion U.S. dollars), gaining 2.1 percent from a quarter ago.

    The rise in the figure was mainly contributed to soaring stock prices, according to the BOK, with South Korea's stock prices gaining about 20 percent in the July-September period.

    The stock price hike came mainly because foreign investors turned to local stocks amid growing signs of an economic recovery, the BOK said.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis