South Korea's household credit grew at the slowest annual pace in two and a half years at the end of March due to a sluggish real estate market and weak economic activity, quarterly central bank data showed on Thursday.
Household credit rose 7.0 percent to 911.4 trillion won ($777.2 billion) at the end of March this year from a year earlier, the slowest growth since a 5.7 percent rise at the end of September 2009, Bank of Korea data showed.
It follows a revised 8.1 percent annual gain in household credit, which includes debt and credit card bills, as of the end of December last year.
Household credit growth has been slowing since the middle of 2011 on a slowing economy. ($1 = 1172.7000 Korean won)