SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Loans by South Korean banks to households and companies rose last month on expected rate hike, which will raise a borrowing burden, central bank data showed Wednesday.
Debts owed by households to banks amounted to 756 trillion won (678 billion U.S. dollars) in October, up 6.8 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It marked the fastest monthly increase in 2017 as households rushed to borrow money amid rising expectations for the BOK's rate hike late this year or early next year.
The central bank froze its policy rate at an all-time low of 1.25 percent last month, but one of the seven-member policy board claimed a 25-basis-point rate increase, indicating higher borrowing costs in the near future.
Corporate loans by banks expanded 5.6 trillion won over the month to 784.5 trillion won as of end-October, marking the highest increase in three months.
Loans to big corporates rose 1.9 trillion won to 155.2 trillion won in the cited period, with those to small companies growing 3.7 trillion won to 629.2 trillion won.
