S.Korea's household debts growth hits 9-year high

Household debts in South Korea posted the largest monthly growth in nine years last month on the back of record-low interest rates and eased regulations on mortgage financing, financial watchdog data showed Wednesday.

Household debts extended by banks reached 534.9 trillion won ( 483 billion U.S. dollars) as of the end of April, up 8.8 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

It more than doubled a 4-trillion-won increase in March, and was larger than any April expansion since the FSS began compiling the data in 2006.

The surge came as more households rushed to borrow money to purchase homes amid record-low interest rates.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) lowered the benchmark interest rate to an all-time low of 1.75 percent in March, after cutting it by 25 basis points in August and October last year each.

The financial regulator eased regulations last year on mortgage financing to boost the lackluster housing market.

The number of apartment transactions in Seoul was 13,900 in April, up from 8,500 a year earlier.

Debts owed by large corporations to banks gained 0.4 trillion won from a year earlier to 183.7 trillion won at the end of April, after reducing 4.2 trillion won in March.

Bank loans to small and medium enterprises increased 6 trillion won to 543.4 trillion won in the same period, up from a 5.8- trillion-won expansion in March. Endi