South Korea’s deposit, loan interest rates rose in May

Average interest rate for new deposits rose 15 basis points from April.

South Korea’s interest rates for new deposits and loans rose in May, its local regulator reported.

Data released by the Bank of Korea (BOK) showed that the average interest rate for new deposits was at 2.02% in May, up 15 basis points from April. For outstanding deposits, the average interest rate as of end-May was 1.08%, or 7 basis points higher.

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For new loans, the average interest rate was 3.68%, up 11 basis points for the previous month.

The average interest rate of outstanding loans also rose 9 basis points in May to 3.45%.

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The BOK computes interest rates on outstanding deposits/loans from the weighted averages of the interest rates applied to the stock of all deposits/loans as of the end of the month.