The financial watchdog on Friday unveiled guidelines of a debt restructuring program for those who borrow money from savings banks, in its latest move tp better protect vulnerable people.
Under the guidelines, borrowers who lost a job within three months or suffered an income decline due to an illness will be allowed to halt repayment of their debts.
Those who temporarily lose their ability to repay debts due to a natural disaster will also be allowed to suspend debt repayments, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).
Financial authorities have announced a set of measures to help ease debt burdens of desperate borrowers.
Savings banks have been urged to curb high-interest loans, with financial authorities criticizing them for taking a bigger bite out of people with poor credit ratings.
The government lowered the maximum legal lending rate to 24 percent per annum in March, and some savings banks have charged an about 20 percent rate, according to FSS officials. (Yonhap)