Banks' bad loan increase remains flat in Q4
This photo shows bank branch in Seoul, Jan. 31. Yonhap
Korean banks' bad loans remained nearly unchanged from three months earlier in the fourth quarter, data showed Tuesday.
Loans classified as substandard or below (SBL) held by local banks came to 14.8 trillion won ($10.09 billion) as of end-December, up 0.3 trillion won from three months earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.
The percentage of SBLs to the total outstanding loans came to 0.53 percent at the end of December, unchanged from three months earlier.
The ratio of business loans classified as SBLs stood at 0.65 percent as of end-December, flat from three months earlier, while the ratio for household loans inched up 0.02 percentage point to 0.29 percent, according to the financial regulator. (Yonhap)