South Korean banks saw their capital adequacy ratio inch down last year due to an increase in risk-weighted assets amid the weakness of the Korean won, data showed Monday.
The average capital adequacy ratio of 17 commercial and state-run banks stood at 15.58 percent as of end-December, down from 15.72 percent a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Financial Supervisory Service.
From three months earlier, the ratio also declined from 15.84 percent.
The ratio, a key barometer of financial soundness, measures the proportion of a bank's capital to its risk-weighted assets.
The Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements, an international organization of central banks, advises lenders to maintain a ratio of 10 percent or higher.
The fall came as the banks' risk-weighted assets increased amid volatile currency rates.
The FSS said banks need to shore up their capital base amid a slew of uncertainties, such as the volatile currency rates, a delay in the economic recovery and US protectionism. (Yonhap)
