This file photo shows a bank official explaining a loan product to a visiting customer. (Yonhap)
South Korean banks' lending rates edged down in May amid a slight decline in deposit rates, central bank data showed Tuesday.
The average interest rate charged on new bank loans came to 2.72 percent in May, down 0.02 percentage point from the previous month, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The BOK cut the key interest rate to a record low of 0.5 percent in May last year after delivering an emergency rate cut of half a percentage point in March to cushion the impact of the new coronavirus outbreak.
Last month, the central bank kept the base rate steady while upgrading this year's growth outlook to 4 percent.
The average rate for bank deposits, meanwhile, came to 0.83 percent in May, down 0.01 percentage point from a month earlier, the BOK said.
South Korean lenders' loan-deposit spread, a gauge of banks' profitability from lending, stood at 2.12 percent in May. (Yonhap)