Banks' rates on fresh loans fall for 4th month in August

This picture shows banners promoting mortgage products in front of a bank in Seoul, Sept. 18. Yonhap The average lending rate of major banks in Korea dropped for the fourth consecutive month in August, data showed Thursday.

COFIX, or the Cost of Funds Index, a benchmark lending rate for mortgage loans, came to 3.36 percent last month, down 0.06 percentage point from the previous month, according to the data from the Korea Federation of Banks.



The rate has been on a steady decline since May. The COFIX rate for outstanding loans dipped 0.02 percentage point to 3.

67 percent in August, marking 10 consecutive months of decline, the data showed. COFIX is calculated based on the cost of information on funds provided by eight domestic banks in Korea. They are Nonghyup Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, Standard Chartered Bank Korea, Hana Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea, Kookmin Bank and Citibank Korea.

(Yonhap).