The average lending rate of major banks in South Korea for home-backed loans dropped for a fourth consecutive month in March, data showed Monday. COFIX, or the Cost of Funds Index, a benchmark lending rate for mortgage loans, came to 3.59 percent last month, down 0.03 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Federation of Banks. The on-month decline follows a 0.04 percentage point drop in February. The COFIX rate for outstanding loans came to 3.78 percent in March, also down 0.03 percentage point from the previous month. 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