Delinquency ratio on bank loans falls in March

The delinquency ratio on loans extended by banks in South Korea fell from a month earlier in March on a sharp increase in the amount of resolved loans, data showed Wednesday. The delinquency ratio on banks' won-denominated loans came to 0.43 percent at end-March, down 0.08 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. From a year earlier, the reading marks a 0.10 percentage-point increase. The on-month decline was attributed to a drop in newly overdue loans, while the amount of resolved loans rose sharply from a month earlier. The amount of newly overdue loans came to 2.4 trillion won (US$1.75 billion) in March, down from 2.9 trillion won the previous month. The amount of resolved loans surged to 4.2 trillion won from 2.8 trillion won over the cited period. The delinquency ratio for corporate loans came to 0.48 percent as of end-March, down 0.11 percentage point from a month before. The ratio for household loans slipped 0.05 percentage point from 0. 42 percent to 0.37 percent over the same period. Source: Yonhap News Agency