SEOUL, May 29 (Xinhua) -- South Korean banks' lending rate stood unchanged in April amid rising expectations for policy rate hikes, central bank data showed Friday.

Pedestrians cross a road in front of the Bank of Korea headquarters in Seoul on Feb 25, 2025. (Photo: AFP)

The weighted average rate for new bank loans made no change at an annualized rate of 4.20 percent in April from a month earlier, after sliding 0.06 percentage points in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Expectations emerged for the BOK's policy rate hikes amid the recovering economy and the steeper inflation, caused by the Middle East tensions.

The BOK left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2.50 percent after reducing it by 25 basis points in February and May of 2025 and in October and November of 2024.

The rate for banks' new corporate loans was unchanged at 4.14 percent in April compared to the previous month.

The lending rate for large companies fell 0.02 percentage points to 4.09 percent, but the rate for small and medium firms added 0.01 percentage point to 4.18 percent.

The rate for fresh bank loans to households slipped 0.08 percentage points over the month to 4.43 percent in April.

Mortgage loan rate for households dipped 0.03 percentage points to 4.31 percent, but credit loan rate gained 0.06 percentage points to 5.63 percent.

The weighted average rate for new bank deposits was up 0.10 percentage points over the month to an annualized 2.92 percent in April.