SEOUL: Banks’ loan rate slightly rose in May, as the central bank has frozen its key rate for more than a year amid still-high inflation, data showed Friday.

The average lending rate of banks applied to new loans last month came to 4.78 percent, up from the previous month’s 4.77 percent, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Last month, the central bank kept its key rate frozen at 3.5 percent for the 11th straight time.

Banks’ lending rate on household loans came to 4.49 percent on average last month, down 0.01 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the BOK.

Their lending rate for corporate loans also rose 0.02 percentage point to 4.9 percent over the cited period, it added.

The rate banks pay for deposits reached 3.55 percent in May, up 0.02 percentage point from the previous month.

The spread on banks’ lending and deposit rates narrowed to 1.23 percentage points last month from 1.24 percentage points in March, according to the data.

Source: Yonhap News Agency