The Financial Supervisory Service said Friday that as of the end of February, the delinquency rate on won-denominated loans at domestic banks — based on principal and interest overdue by at least one month — stood at 0.62%, up 0.06 percentage point from 0.56% a month earlier. It was the highest since May last year, when it was 0.64%.
New delinquencies totaled 3 trillion won in February, up 200 billion won from 2.8 trillion won the previous month. Over the same period, the amount of delinquent loans resolved held steady at about 1.3 trillion won.
The new delinquency rate edged up to 0.12% from 0.11%.
Household loan delinquencies rose to 0.45%, up 0.03 percentage point. Delinquencies on home mortgage loans increased 0.02 percentage point to 0.31%, while household loans excluding mortgages — including credit loans — climbed 0.06 percentage point to 0.90%.
Corporate loan delinquencies rose to 0.76% from 0.67%. Delinquencies on loans to large companies increased 0.06 percentage point to 0.19%, and those to small and midsize firms rose 0.10 percentage point to 0.92%.
The watchdog said delinquency rates are rising, particularly among smaller corporations, and warned the uptrend could continue amid domestic and external uncertainties. It said it will push banks to strengthen asset-quality management by setting aside sufficient loan-loss reserves and stepping up efforts such as selling delinquent loans to clean up their balance sheets.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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