“Lower interest rates on loans”, mentioning ‘windfall tax’ and putting pressure on the financial sector

Recently, as the loan burden on small business owners and others has increased significantly, financial authorities have summoned heads of the financial sector and ordered a solution.

They increased the level of pressure by demanding measures to immediately reduce interest rates.

This is reporter Park Jin-jun.

◀ Report ▶

Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Joo-hyun ordered the chairmanships of eight major financial holding companies, including Shinhan, Hana, and KB, to fulfill their social responsibilities.

At the same time, he said, “There are concerns about the collapse of neighborhood and alley commercial districts, but the banking sector continues to see record-breaking profits,” and requested a plan that can be felt “immediately.”

[김주현/금융위원장]
″We ask that you come up with a plan that can be felt to directly reduce the interest rate burden to a certain level.″

In fact, until the third quarter of this year, domestic banks earned more than 44 trillion won in interest.

We earned 3.6 trillion won more than last year.

This is because loan interest profits increased due to the interest rate increase.

In response, Lee Bok-hyeon, head of the Financial Supervisory Service, increased the level of pressure by even mentioning the ‘windfall tax’.

[이복현/금융감독원장]
″Public opinion has deteriorated to the point that there is even discussion of windfall tax legislation that is so unconventional as to shake the foundation of the (financial) industry.″

Since President Yoon Seok-yeol strongly criticized the banking monopoly earlier this month, the government’s pressure on the financial sector has continued.

The burden on the banking sector to come up with measures for ‘coexistence’ has increased.

Although they have achieved record-breaking interest income, the burden of funding costs is also high, and the actual net interest margin of banks is falling from 1.68% in the first quarter of this year to 1.63% in the third quarter.

The Financial Supervisory Service also expressed concern when announcing bank performance, saying, “The burden of loan loss costs on banks is expected to increase in the future.”

In addition, if the government selects only small business owners and lowers the interest rate as it wants, issues of fairness among customers may be raised, so concerns are deepening about coming up with alternatives.

This is Jinjun Park from MBC News.