S Korean banks' loan delinquency ratio falls in Sept.

South Korean banks' loan delinquency ratio fell in September due to a reduction in new delinquent loans and massive resolution of existing overdue loans, the financial watchdog said Tuesday. The rate of bad loans, which were overdue for more than one day, against the total banks loans to companies and households stood at 1.04 percent as of the end of September, down 0.18 percentage point from a month earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said in a statement. The delinquency ratio fell for the first time in three months in September. The September decline came as local banks rushed to massively clean up overdue loans ahead of quarterly book closing. The decrease in new delinquent loans also contributed to the fall in delinquency. New delinquent loans amounted to 1.8 trillion won (1.62 billion U.S. dollars) as of the end of September, down 0.6 trillion won from a month before, while overdue loans resolved grew 2.3 trillion won on-month to reach 3.6 trillion won. The delinquency ratio of banks' corporate lending came in at 1.33 percent in September, down 0.25 percentage point from a month before. The default rate for large corporations fell 0.07 percentage point on-month to 0.51 percent in September, with the corresponding rate for small- and mid-sized firms dipping 0.29 percentage point to 1.56 percent. The delinquency ratio of banks' household lending stood at 0.71 percent as of the end of September, down 0.09 percentage point from the previous month. The default rate for home-backed loans, which account for most of household loans, was down 0.08 percentage point to 0.63 percent in September, with the rate for other household loans such as unsecured loans dropping 0.13 percentage point to 0.85 percent.