Deposit, lending rates in S.Korea fall to record low

Deposit and lending rates in South Korea fell to record lows last month as the central bank cut the benchmark interest rate, Bank of Korea (BOK) data showed Monday.

Rates on new deposit by banks averaged 2.36 percent in August, down 0.13 percentage point from a month ago. It marked the lowest since the BOK began compiling the related data in 1996.

After peaking at 2.67 percent in December last year, the deposit rate continued to fall to 2.57 percent in June and 2.49 percent in July.

The continued fall came after the BOK lowered borrowing costs by a quarter percentage point to 2.25 percent in August. Expectations are running high for additional rate cut as early as in October.

Rates on fresh loans also declined to a record low of 4.18 percent in August, down 0.21 percentage point from a month earlier.

Rates for mortgage loans slid from 3.53 percent in July to 3.5 percent in August, and corporate loan rates shrank from 4.54 percent to 4.35 percent in the same period.