SEOUL, May 13 (Xinhua) -- South Korean banks' household lending rebounded last month owing to strong demand for mortgage loan, central bank data showed Monday.

Debt owed by households to deposit-taking banks expanded 5.1 trillion won (3.7 billion U.S. dollars) from a month earlier to 1,103.6 trillion won (805.1 billion dollars) at the end of April, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The household lending turned around after reducing 1.7 trillion won (9.7 billion dollars) in the previous month.

During the January-March quarter, household lending grew 3.6 trillion won (2.6 billion dollars) on expectations for policy rate cuts by the end of this year.

The BOK had left its policy rate unchanged at 3.50 percent since January last year after raising it by 3.0 percentage points for the past one and a half years.

Banks' mortgage loan climbed 4.5 trillion won (3.3 billion dollars) in April, while other loans to households, including credit loan, credit line and commercial real estate-backed loan, added 600 billion won (437.7 million dollars).

Banks' corporate loan came to 1,284.6 trillion won (937.2 billion dollars) at the end of April, up 11.9 trillion won (8.7 billion dollars) from a month earlier.

Lending to big companies gained 6.5 trillion won (4.7 billion dollars), and loan to small firms rose 5.4 trillion won (4 billion dollars) last month. Enditem

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