South Korean banks'loan delinquency ratio gathered ground in February from the previous month as more companies delayed loan repayment,the financial regulator said Sunday.
Eighteen local banks' defaulted loans, or lending that is overdue one day or more, totaled 1.14 percent of their total lending at the end of February, up from 1.02 percent as of end -January, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said.
The ratio of loan defaults rose for the second straight month in February.
The regulator said corporate borrowers' late loan repayments led to the gain in the February reading.
The average delinquency ratio on corporate loans rose to 1.52 percent as of the end of February, from 1.31 percent a month earlier while the rate on household lending reached 0.68 percent compared with 0.67 percent.
"The growth of overall loan defaults appear relatively stable, but defaults by big builders and property-related borrowers continued to worsen," the FSS noted.
The average default rate on construction project financing loans jumped to 6.67 percent as of end-February, compared with 4.87 percent a month earlier, it added.