SEOUL, The average lending rate of major banks in South Korea for home-backed loans dropped for a second consecutive month in January, data showed Thursday.

COFIX, or the Cost of Funds Index, a benchmark lending rate for mortgage loans, came to 3.66 percent last month, down 0.18 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Federation of Banks.

The rate had dipped 0.16 percentage point on-month in December. The COFIX rate for outstanding loans came to 3.84 percent last month, down 0.03 percentage point from a month earlier.

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