SEOUL: Bank lending rates on new household loans climbed from a month earlier in March while interest paid on fresh bank deposits dipped to a six-month low, central bank data showed Thursday. The average interest rate on new household loans extended by local banks came to 3.24 percent in March, up 0.03 percentage point from the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The on-month rise marked a turnaround from a drop of 0.07 percentage point in February. The increase apparently comes ahead of what many believe to be an imminent U.S. rate hike, possibly in June. The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to twice raise its policy rate this year following its first rate hike in nearly a decade late last year.