Progressive Party: "Four Major Commercial Banks Must Lower Loan Interest Rates"

Press Conference Declaring the 'Loan Interest Rate Reduction Movement' on the 28th

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] The Progressive Party has urged the four major commercial banks to lower their loan interest rates.

On the 28th, Yoon Hee-sook, the standing representative of the Progressive Party, held a press conference in front of the Shinhan Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, to announce a campaign to reduce loan interest rates. She stated, "The net profit earned by the four major financial holding companies by the third quarter of this year reached 13.8544 trillion won," adding, "Excessive interest rate margins that hurt ordinary people in this high-interest era must be reduced to share the difficulties of the livelihood economy."

Representative Yoon pointed out, "The profits of the four major financial holding companies are not due to particularly good management," and said, "Because the speed of deposit interest rate increases is slower than that of loan interest rates, they are enjoying astronomical profits as is."

She continued, "The Bank of Korea has raised the base interest rate six consecutive times, reaching 3.25%, and as a result, the principal and interest repayment burden on households with mortgage loans has become unbearably heavy," adding, "The sighs of ordinary people with credit loans and jeonse deposit loans are increasing, and already tight household finances are facing a serious situation where they cannot sustain their lives due to increased interest."

She further stated, "The financial authorities and political circles are promoting measures to disclose the interest rate differences and the basis for their calculation, but these efforts have stalled in the face of the 'banks' operational autonomy' argument," and demanded that the four major commercial banks lower their loan interest rates.

The Progressive Party also called for the introduction of a windfall tax on the four major banks as a policy alternative.

The Progressive Party emphasized, "A windfall tax means imposing special taxation on excess profits gained due to external factors such as interest rate hikes," and added, "If the tax revenue is used to support financially vulnerable groups suffering from interest rate increases, it could be a decisive opportunity to strengthen financial publicness."