South Korean banks' industrial loans continued to rise in the third quarter with their growth pace also quickening from three months earlier, central bank data showed Monday.

Outstanding bank loans to local companies came to 931.8 trillion won ($804.87 billion) at the end of September, up 6.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.

From three months earlier, the amount increased by 20 trillion won, quickening from a 12.3 trillion won rise in the April-June period.

The growth was attributed to a rise in loans to the manufacturing and service industries, both struggling from slumping local consumption and exports.

In the three months ending on Sept. 30, the country's household spending dropped to a new quarterly low due to what the BOK earlier called the lingering effects of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak that has so far claimed 38 lives since it was confirmed in late May.

The country's exports have dipped every single month since the start of the year.

In the July-September period, loans extended to manufacturers climbed 6.7 trillion won, compared with a 2.7 trillion won increase in the second quarter.

The growth in loans extended to the service sector also quickened its pace from a 9.2 trillion won gain in the second quarter to an increase of 12.4 trillion won.

Loans to local builders remained unchanged from the previous quarter at 40.3 trillion won, the data showed. (Yonhap)