South Korea‘s personal loans increased by over 1 trillion won ($929 billion) to 99.7 trillion won in April, pushing the overall household loans to grow at the fastest speed in five months in April, data by five major commercial banks showed Thursday.

The banks include KB Kookmin, Shinhan, KEB Hana, Woori and NH Nonghyup.

It is the first time since November last year for personal loans to increase by over 1 trillion won, a trend attributable to the government’s tougher rules on mortgage loans. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)