In the wake of an unprecedented health crisis, households who lack liquid assets that could tackle their growing deficit (=income-expenditure) will endure severe financial difficulties. The share of households facing liquidity risk will increase as incomes fall by bigger margins and exposure to...

Korea's household debt continues to be a major economic risk despite countermeasures, necessitating a thorough overhaul of the current macro-prudential management system. - The debt expanded to 1,514 trillion won in 3Q 2018 from a decade ago (713 trillion won in 2008), considerably exceeding the...

"Korea's households and banks seem relatively sound in terms of their loss-absorbing capacities. However, a number of worrying signs are present. Some of the negative indicators are the rising share of non-bank consumer loans; the large share of real estate out of household assets, borrowing in...

Financial soundness in the household sector matters for financial stability and for the real economy. The level of household debt in Korea raises concern about the financial soundness of the household sector due to its size, growth rate and quality. Against this backdrop, we assess the financial...

Household debt in Korea raises concerns about the resilience of the economy due to its size and quality. Against this backdrop, we investigate if household leverage matters for private consumption in adverse economic environments even without severe financial disruptions. We find that the...