South korea: South Korea's chief financial regulator said Friday that household loan growth slowed in July under tightened regulations, but it needs to tightly control consumer lending in the face of higher home prices and a rise in transactions.

According to Yonhap News Agency, in a meeting on household loan trends, Lee Eog-weon, chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), emphasized the importance of curbing loans for speculation while also directing funds into home construction and supporting those with genuine home-buying needs.

Last month, household loans by all financial institutions increased by 6.2 trillion won (US$4.38 billion), marking a slowdown from the previous month's 8.3 trillion-won growth. Data from the FSC also indicated a deceleration in home-backed loan growth, which reduced to 3.5 trillion won last month from 4.5 trillion won over the reported period.

The FSC chief highlighted that a comprehensive financial package, unveiled earlier in the week, aims to expedite housing supply and provide financial assistance to young people and individuals with actual housing demands. On Thursday, the regulator announced plans to enhance policy loans for construction projects to approximately 50 trillion won, up from the earlier 26 trillion won, and to offer more loans for young people and newlyweds seeking to purchase homes, with the goal of stabilizing the housing market.

"Financial institutions need to tightly regulate speculative demand, while providing support for young people and those with actual demand," Lee stated.