A person passes by information on a bank's loan programs on the exterior of a lender in Seoul, March 13. Yonhap

Banks in Korea are expected to continue to ease their stances on extending home-backed loans in the second quarter of the year, a central bank survey showed Friday.

According to the poll of financial institutions, including 18 banks, conducted by the Bank of Korea (BOK), the index gauging banks' attitude toward home mortgages stood at 8 for the April-June period.

The figure compares with 3 the previous quarter and minus 14 during the last quarter of last year.

A reading above zero means the number of lenders that will ease lending criteria surpasses that of banks planning to tighten lending criteria.

The poll also showed the credit risks for borrowers in the first quarter will likely remain high due to the rising debt burden from high borrowing costs driven by the BOK's rate hikes to curb inflation.

The index gauging credit risks for households and businesses stood at 37 in the second quarter of this year, up from the previous quarter's 32.

Earlier this month, the BOK froze its key rate at 3.5 percent for the 10th straight session amid woes over lower-than-expected inflation moderation and said it will keep its restrictive stance for a longer period.

The BOK has stood pat following rate freezes in February, April, May, July, August, October and November last year. The rate freezes came after the BOK delivered seven consecutive rate hikes from April 2022 to January 2023. (Yonhap)