The base interest rate on housing loans charged by the public Housing Loan Corp. will be cut to 2.6 percent per annum from the current 2.7 percent, retroactive to Jan. 22, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry said Thursday.
The new rate will apply to loan applications in the fourth lending period this year -- from Jan. 22 to March 23 -- marking the third consecutive monthly cut in the base rate.
The cut follows a reduction in the standard lending rate of the government's fiscal loan and investment program to 1.7 percent from 1.8 percent.
Administered by the Finance Ministry, the program channels money from postal savings and public pension premiums to state-affiliated lenders such as Housing Loan Corp.