By Kim Jae-kyoung
Staff Reporter
The nation's household debts hit a record high of 640 trillion won in March, due to a rise in loans from non-banking financial institutions.
The Bank or Korea (BOK) reported Monday that the balance of consumer debt ― household loans and credit sales ― reached 640 trillion won in March, up 9.8 trillion won or 9.2 percent from a quarter ago.
After posting 586 trillion won in March 2007, the amount steadily increased to 596 trillion won in June, 610.6 trillion won in September and 630.6 trillion won at the end of last year.
As a result, the average debt per household reached 38.41 million won in March, up from 36.01 million won in 2006 and 32.65 million won in 2005.
Although the growth slowed from the previous quarter, household debts more than doubled from a year earlier, the BOK said.
``The growth pace of household lending usually slows in the first quarter as Koreans cut back on loans as companies give bonuses earlier in the year,'' a BOK official said.
``But household credit growth picked up this year on increased lending by non-financial firms,'' she added.
The data comes as rising debts, together with high-flying inflation, are sapping household and corporate spending, denting domestic demand.
Household loans extended by financial institutions increased by 9.6 trillion won quarter-on-quarter to an outstanding 605 trillion won in the January-March period.
Credit sales ― payments for goods through credit card firms or installment financing firms ― gained 200 billion won to reach 35.5 trillion won.