Banks’ rates for fresh loans fall in December

SEOUL, The average lending rate of major banks in South Korea for mortgage loans fell from a month earlier in December, data showed Monday. COFIX, or the Cost of Funds Index, a benchmark lending rate for mortgage loans, came to 3.84 percent last month, down 0.16 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Federation of Banks. The COFIX rate for outstanding loans slipped 0.02 percentage point to 3.87 percent over the cited period. COFIX is calculated based on costs of funding information provided by eight domestic banks in South Korea. They are Nonghyup Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, Standard Chartered Bank Korea, Hana Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea, Kookmin Bank and Citibank Korea. Source: Yonhap News Agency