▲ A street in Myeongdong in Seoul is crowded with people, in this file photo from Aug. 27, 2026. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- Loans extended to companies in South Korea grew at a slower pace in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter on reduced demand from the manufacturing sector, central bank data showed Monday.

Outstanding loans to local companies reached 2,065.3 trillion won (US$1.54 trillion) as of end-June, up 30.6 trillion won from three months earlier, according to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The increase marked a slight deceleration from the previous quarter, when loans expanded by 30.8 trillion won.

By sector, loans to manufacturing firms rose by 8.4 trillion won from three months earlier to 521.5 trillion won, slowing from an on-quarter increase of 11 trillion won in the first quarter.

Loans in the service sector surged by 19.9 trillion won to 1,313.1 trillion won on increased loans to the financial and real estate sectors. It marked the largest on-quarter increase since the fourth quarter of 2022, when the figure stood at 26.1 trillion won.

Regarding the purpose of the loans, operating funds increased by 23.8 trillion won in the second quarter, following a 21.4 trillion-won gain in the first quarter.

Facility investment loans advanced by 6.9 trillion won, slowing from a 9.4 trillion-won increase in the previous quarter, the BOK data showed.

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