S. Korea banks' household loans rebound in April

South Korean banks' household loans marked the first rebound in five months in April due to the eased lending standard, central bank data showed on Wednesday.

Debts, owed by households to banks, amounted to 1,060.2 trillion won (830 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of April, up by 1.2 trillion won (939.3 million U.S. dollars) from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It was the first turnaround in five months since November last year as banks raised credit limit and lowered lending rate for household loans.

To curb runaway inflation, the BOK hiked its policy rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 1.50 percent, after raising the rate by 25 basis points in January.

Mortgage loans, extended by banks to households, expanded by 2.1 trillion won (1.6 billion U.S. dollars) in April, while credit loans reduced by some 900 billion won (704.5 million U.S. dollars).