SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's issuance of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) fell in double digits in the third quarter due to the end of special government-backed mortgage loan program, financial watchdog data showed Wednesday.

MBS, issued by the state-run Korea Housing Finance Corp. to securitize mortgage loans, ran to 3.97 trillion won (2.9 billion U.S. dollars) during the July-September quarter, down 67.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

The double-digit decrease came as the government ended its special mortgage loan provision program in January.

The country's central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.25 percent earlier this month as part of efforts to bolster the lackluster housing market and the sluggish economy.

Asset-backed securities (ABS) issuance by financial companies soared 43.6 percent to 5.62 trillion won (4.1 billion dollars) in the three months through September compared to a year earlier as banks expanded the sale of securities backed by non-performing loans.

ABS sale by industrial companies dived 23.8 percent to 1.11 trillion won (800 million dollars) in the cited quarter owing to lower issuance of securities based on handset installment receivables.

Outstanding ABS issuance came in at 258.8 trillion won (186.6 billion dollars) at the end of September, up 5.2 percent from a year earlier. Enditem

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