SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Korean banks' lending rate rose for the second straight month in October amid regulatory efforts to control a rapid growth in household debts, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The weighted average rate for new bank loans gained 0.05 percentage points from a month earlier to an annualized 4.67 percent in October, after advancing 0.14 percentage points in the prior month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The continued growth was attributed to the financial regulator's efforts to contain the households' rush to purchase new homes with borrowed money.

It ran counter to lower policy rate. The BOK slashed the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.25 percent in October.

Rate for new bank loans to households jumped 0.32 percentage points to 4.55 percent in October compared to the previous month, after going up 0.02 percentage points in August and 0.15 percentage points in September.

Mortgage loan rate for households added 0.31 percentage points to 4.05 percent, but credit loan rate dipped 0.01 percentage point to 5.86 percent.

Rate for banks' new corporate loans slipped 0.06 percentage points over the month to 4.71 percent in October.

The lending rate for big companies diminished 0.02 percentage points to 4.79 percent, while the rate for small firms went down 0.10 percentage points to 4.64 percent.

The weighted average rate for new bank deposits was down 0.03 percentage points over the month to an annualized 3.37 percent in October. Enditem

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