South Korean banks' loans to smaller companies increased at the fastest pace in six years in 2014 as the government pressured them to support start-ups and firms with high-level technologies, data showed Monday.
  

According to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea, outstanding loans extended by local banks to smaller firms stood at 521.28 trillion won ($472 billion) at the end of last year, up 7.3 percent, or 35.35 trillion won, from a year earlier.
  

The 2014 growth marks the highest since the 13.9 percent rise in 2008, when the country was hit by the financial crisis.
  

The growth of loans to smaller firms decelerated to 4.7 percent in 2009. In 2010, loans to smaller firms declined 0.6 percent on an annual basis. The comparable figures for 2012 and 2013 were a 1.3 percent rise and a 6 percent increase, according to the data.
  

The sharp rise in bank loans to smaller firms came as the government prodded local banks to extend lending to those companies that boast technological supremacy, but whose financial status is weak, as part of a broader measure to nurture smaller firms.
  

Also, cash-rich large firms took out a smaller-than-expected amount of bank loans in 2014, the data showed. Bank loans to large firms increased 4.5 trillion won last year, shifting from a 500 billion won decline the previous year, they showed. (Yonhap)