South Korea central bank injects $119mn into housing corp

SEOUL: South Korea's central bank said on Tuesday it injected 135.0 billion won ($119 million) into Korea Housing Finance Corp (KFHC) to strengthen the government-run company's capital base.

The move is part of local policym
kers' plans to boost KFHC's ability to support banks' sale and securitisation of their loan assets, which will in turn encourage lenders to make long-term, fixed-rate loans.

The central bank's decision had been planned long in advance as part of a government scheme last year to achieve a healthier debt structure in South Korea by helping lenders restructure household borrowings.

The central bank now has a 36.7 percent stake in the public company, up from 28.8 percent.