SEOUL, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Loan delinquency ratio among South Korean banks inched up in April on higher rate for bad loans to small companies, financial watchdog data showed Wednesday.
The ratio of bank loans overdue at least one month was 0.49 percent of the total as of end-April, up 0.03 percentage points from a month earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
The bad loan ratio tended to rise in the month after banks resolved bad loans in March ahead of the quarter-end.
The delinquency ratio for corporate loans advanced 0.05 percentage points over the month to 0.64 percent at the end April. The ratio for bank loans to big corporations fell 0.01 percentage point, but the figure for loans to small companies advanced 0.06 percentage points.
The bad debt ratio for households added 0.02 percentage points to 0.30 percent in the cited period. The ratio for mortgage loans edged up 0.01 percentage point, with the reading for credit loans gaining 0.04 percentage points.