Banks' loan delinquency rate edges up in Feb.

SEOUL, April 4 (Yonhap) -- The delinquency rate of South Korean banks' won-denominated loans edged up in February from a month earlier, government data showed Tuesday.

The monthly data suggested a slight decline in the soundness of both corporate and household finances, but there will be few default risks, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

The delinquency rate for bank loans stood at 0.57 percent at the end of February, up from 0.53 percent at the end of January, the FSS data showed.

Compared with a year ago, however, the rate fell 0.13 percentage point, it said.

"Newly delinquent loans exceeded resolved loans during the period, and this mostly contributed to month-on-month growth in domestic banks' delinquency rate," the FSS said in a statement.

The delinquency rate of loans extended to large firms stood at 0.79 percent at the end of February, up 0.06 percentage point from a month earlier.

That of loans to households rose 0.01 percentage point to 0.29 percent over the cited period, the FSS data showed.
(END)