Delinquency rate on bank loans surges in Jan.

SEOUL, March 28 (Yonhap) -- The delinquency rate on loans extended by local banks spiked in January due mainly to a base effect and increased newly soured loans, data showed Friday.

The delinquency rate on banks' won-denominated loans rose 0.09 percentage point from a month earlier to 0.53 percent at the end-January, according to preliminary data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

The amount of newly delinquent loans came to 3.2 trillion won (US$2.18 billion) in January, up from the 2.5 trillion won the previous month.

The amount of write-offs of bad loans, on the other hand, fell by 3.3 trillion won to 1 trillion won over the cited period, the data showed.

The delinquency rate on corporate loans stood at 0.61 percent at end-January, up 0.11 percentage point from a month before.

The rate on household loans also rise 0.05 percentage point to 0.43 percent over the cited period, the FSS said.

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