SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Delinquency in South Korean bank loans grew for the first time in three months, raising concerns about financial soundness amid higher interest rates, financial watchdog data showed on Monday.
The ratio of loans over one month overdue to total bank loans came in at 0.53 percent as of end-January, up 0.06 percentage points from a month earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). It was the first gain in three months.
Newly delinquent loans surpassed the amount of resolved debts in January, helping increase the delinquency rate.
Rising delinquency rate boosted concerns about the healthiness of household debts, which kept rising to a record high as the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to an all-time low of 1.25 percent in June last year.
Debt-servicing burden has recently increased as market rates here began turning upward on expectations for the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate increases this year.
The overdue rate for household loans added 0.02 percentage points from a month earlier to 0.28 percent at the end of January, with the figure for home-backed loans rising 0.02 percentage points to 0.21 percent.
The delinquent rate for credit loans owned by households to banks stood at 0.48 percent as of end-January, up 0.07 percentage points from a month ago.
Meanwhile, the rate for corporate loans increased 0.07 percentage points to 0.73 percent. The ratio for loans to big companies declined 0.06 percentage points, but the reading for loans to small firms climbed 0.11 percentage points.
