Seoul: Banks’ loan rate rose in September, snapping its three-month decline, as the central bank has frozen its key rate for more than a year amid moderating inflation and high household debt, central bank data showed Thursday. The average lending rate of banks applied to new loans last month came to 4.62 percent, down from the previous month’s 4.48 percent, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

According to Yonhap News Agency, banks’ lending rate on household loans came to 4.23 percent on average in September, up 0.15 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the BOK. Their lending rate for corporate loans also rose 0.1 percentage point to 4.77 percent over the cited period, it added.

Early this month, the central bank cut its key rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.25 percent for the first time in 38 months amid faltering domestic demand and moderating inflation. The rate banks pay for deposits reached 3.40 percent in September, up 0.05 percentage point from the previous month.

The spread on banks’ lending and deposit rates widened to 1.22 percentage points last month from 1.13 percentage points in July, according to the data.