S Korea banks post $2.3bn losses in 1997
REUTER
SEOUL, January 22: South Korea's central bank said on Thursday commercial banks reported losses of 3.92 trillion won ($2.3 billion) last year.The Bank of Korea said only six of the 26 commercial banks turned in a net profit. The total net losses of the rest compared with net profits of 939 billion won in 1996.The banks' operating income dropped 28.4 per cent to 3.4 trillion won from 4.75 trillion in 1996, largely on account of a sharp rise in the non-performing loans as a result of a series of corporate failures last year, it said in a statement. Commercial banks incurred a combined 2.45-trillion won loss from sell-offs of bad loans and a combined 53.6-billion loss from stock investment, the bank said. The worst performer was the troubled Korea First Bank, which turned in a loss of 1.62 trillion won, against a 6.2 billion won profit last year. In New York on Wednesday, South Korean officials negotiating with global lenders to find a longer solution to the country's short-term debt burden said both thesides had agreed not to release details of Seoul's latest proposal. But according to one banker familiar with the talks, the Korean side offered a proposal focused on swapping about $30 billion of short-term debt for one- to three-year loans guaranteed by the government. The loans would carry interest rates determined by a select committee of bankers, he said.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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