Korea’s bank loans to smaller firms hit record high in October

New loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by Korean banks rose by the largest amount in seven years in October despite efforts to curb loan demand, the central bank said Wednesday (Nov.7). Loans by commercial lenders to SMEs increased by 8.2 trillion won (US$9.04 billion) to an outstanding 350.8 trillion won in October due to strong loan demand for tax payments, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said.

Last month’s growth was up from 7.8 trillion won a month earlier and the steepest since the central bank started compiling related data in December 2000. Corporate loans, which also include lending to large corporations, rose by 9.5 trillion won last month to an outstanding 385.3 trillion won, the BOK said.

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