South Korea’s interest rates for new deposits, loans fall in January

Average interest rate for new loans taken by large firms dropped 12 basis points.

South Korea’s interest rates for new deposits and loans fell in January, central bank data showed.

During the month, the average interest rate on new deposits was 3.67%, 18 basis points lower than the previous month.

For outstanding amounts of deposits, the average interest rate was 2.69%, up 1 basis point compared to December.

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Interest rates of new loans fell 10 basis points to 5.04% over the same period. For outstanding amounts of loans, the average interest rate fell 2 basis points to 5.19%.

New loans to the corporate sector– both for large firms and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) – registered lower interest rates for the month, at an average of 5.22% versus the 5.29% in December. Large corporations were the biggest winners, with the average interest rate for new loans falling by 12 basis points in January. 

The average interest rate for new loans taken out by SMEs remained the same, just falling 3 basis points to 5.28% as of end-January.