Growth of household loans offered by South Korean depository institutions slowed in November, the central bank said Tuesday, amid the government’s efforts to rein in private sector debt.

Household lending handled by local banks and non-bank institutions totaled 638 trillion won ($554.4 billion) as of the end of November, up by more than 3.6 trillion won from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. The monthly increase in November was moderate compared with the growth in the previous month. In October, household lending jumped 5.7 trillion won on-month, the highest monthly gain in 11 months.

The slowing growth of household debts comes as the Korean government tried to curb the rise in household credit out of concern that heavy indebtedness in the private sector would slow consumer spending and dampen domestic growth.

Banks’ household loans, including home-backed lending, rose by 1.4 trillion won on-month to 454.2 trillion won as of the end of November, smaller than a 3.2 trillion won increase in the previous month, the central bank said.

Of the loans given by banks, housing loans grew 1 trillion won to 306.4 trillion won and their credit loans expanded 300 billion won to 147.7 trillion won.

Total household loans from non-bank institutions reached 183.8 trillion won at the end of November, up 2.3 trillion won from October. Their non-housing loans grew 1.5 trillion won to 101.9 trillion won, compared with a 1.7 trillion won monthly gain in the previous month, the BOK said. 

(Yonhap News)