[AKYUNG Poll] 60% of Citizens Say "Loan Regulations Should Be Eased to Protect Actual Borrowers"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Six out of ten citizens believe that the government’s loan regulations should be eased.

According to a public opinion survey conducted by Asia Economy on the 7th, commissioned to Win-G Korea Consulting, 60.2% of respondents answered that "loan regulations should be eased to protect actual demanders" in response to the question about "the stance on the tightening of financial authorities’ regulations due to concerns over the rapid increase in household debt, making it difficult for individuals to obtain mortgage loans and credit loans from banks."

Only 32.0% responded that "regulations should be strengthened to curb excessive speculative demand and prevent the increase in household debt." Those who answered "don’t know" accounted for 7.8%.

The call for easing loan regulations was relatively higher among respondents in their 30s and 40s, who are actively engaged in economic activities.

Among those in their 30s, 70.2% said regulations should be eased, and 63.6% of respondents in their 40s gave the same answer. Among respondents in their 20s, 61.2% supported easing regulations.

In their 50s, 58.7%, and among those aged 60 and above, 52.9% expressed the view that regulations should be eased.

When linked to opinions on President Moon Jae-in’s ability to perform state affairs, 70.7% of those with a negative evaluation of his performance advocated easing loan regulations, significantly higher than the 21.4% among those with a positive evaluation.

By region, respondents living in Seoul showed the highest support for easing regulations at 67.4%. This was followed by Gyeonggi-Incheon (61.6%), Daejeon-Sejong-Chungcheong (60.3%), Daegu-Gyeongbuk (62.5%), Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam (58.4%), Gwangju-Jeonbuk-Jeonnam (49.1%), and Gangwon-Jeju (45.0%).

Among male respondents, 64.6% said regulations should be eased, while 55.9% of female respondents agreed, showing a nearly 9 percentage point difference.

Unless there is a change in the government’s policy stance, the "loan freeze" for financial consumers is expected to continue next year. Following the financial authorities’ guidelines, major commercial banks are setting next year’s household loan growth target lower than this year’s 5%, at around 4.5%, tightening the reins across the financial sector.

This public opinion survey was conducted on voters aged 18 and older nationwide on the 4th and 5th, with 1,025 respondents and an overall response rate of 7.3%. The survey method was wireless ARS using 100% mobile phone virtual numbers, and the sample was extracted with weighted values by gender, age, and region based on the resident registration population as of the end of January 2021 from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (cell weighting). The sampling error is ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

For detailed survey information, please refer to the Win-G Korea Consulting website or the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission website.