SEOUL, Nov. 25-- Debts owed by South Korean households hit a new record high after policy rate cuts and the easing of regulations on mortgage financing, central bank data showed on Tuesday.

Household credit, including mortgage loans and purchase on credit, reached a record high of 1,060.3 trillion won (950 billion U.S. dollars) as of end-September, according to the Bank of Korea.

The figure was up 22 trillion won from three months earlier, tantamount to an average monthly increase of more than 7 trillion won in the past three months. From a year earlier, the figure was up 66.7 trillion won, equaling an average monthly rise of 5.5 trillion won.

The faster expansion over the past three months came as the central bank cut the benchmark interest rate in August by a quarter percentage point to 2.25 percent before lowering it again to a record low of 2 percent in October.

The financial regulator eased regulations on mortgage financing by lifting the loan-to-value and debt-to-income (DTI) ratios, contributing to the record household debts.

Household loans, which make up almost all of the household credit, jumped 22.1 trillion won from three months earlier to 1, 002.9 trillion won as of end-September, but purchase on credit fell 0.1 trillion won to 57.4 trillion won in the same period.

The third-quarter increase in household debts was led by mortgage loans. Household loans by banks gained 12.3 trillion won to 501.9 trillion won, with the rise in mortgage loans amounting to 11.9 trillion won.

Debts owed by households to non-bank deposit takers, including savings banks, credit unions, mutual credit and community credit cooperatives, rose 5.3 trillion won to 221 trillion won in the cited period.

Other institutions, including insurers, pensions and public financial institutions, saw their loans to households gain 4.4 trillion won during the July-September period after reducing 1.6 trillion won in the prior three-month period.