South Korean banks’ nonperforming loans grew for a seventh consecutive quarter in the second quarter of the year due to a rise in bad loans extended to banks, data showed Wednesday.

Loans classified as substandard or below (SBL) held by local banks had come to 14.4 trillion won (US$10.8 billion) as of end-June, up 1 trillion won from three months earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

The figure has been on the rise since the fourth quarter of 2022.

The percentage of SBLs to the total outstanding loans came to 0.53 percent, up 0.03 percentage point over the cited period.

The ratio of business loans classified as SBLs had stood at 0.65 percent as of end-June, up 0.04 percentage point from three months earlier, while the ratio for household loans remained unchanged over the same period at 0.27 percent, according to the financial regulator.

The ratio for credit card loans and receivables had come to 1.60 percent as of end-June, down 0.01 percentage point from 1.61 percent at
end-March.

Source: Yonhap News Agency