S Korea Sees Deposit Interest Rate Fall to 13-Year Low

South Korea's savings deposit interest rate at banks plunged to a 13-year low due to the central bank's aggressive move on credit easing, local Korea Times reported Monday.

The average interest rate for banks' deposit products logged 2.97 percent in March, down 0.26 percentage points from the previous month, the Korea Times said, citing a report by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The figure stood at the lowest level since January 1996, when it started compiling related data, according to the Korea Times.

A downward move in deposit interest rate came as certificates of deposit (CD) interest rates, the benchmark for banks' rates, declined due to the central bank's steep key rate cuts, a BOK economist was quoted as saying by the Korea Times.

The BOK has trimmed down its key interest rate by a total of 3.25 percentage points to a record low of 2 percent since last October.