<Anchor>



In the meantime, when borrowing money from a bank, there have been many cases of choosing a variable rate with a slightly lower interest rate.

But now, as interest rates are rising, banks are coming out with fixed interest rates that are cheaper than floating rates.



This content was covered by reporter Kim Jung-woo.



<Reporter>



In October of last year, employee A borrowed more than 300 million won from a bank at a variable interest rate.



But a few days ago he got a text from the bank stating that the interest he owed had gone up.



At first, I got a loan at 2%, but after 8 months, it exceeded 4%, and the interest also increased from 700,000 won to 1.2 million won.



[Mr A/Office worker: The money I paid only for interest almost doubled.

Because I think it will go up further, this scares me even more in the future.

I don't know how much it will go up.]



In October of last year, when Mr. A borrowed money, 80% of all borrowers borrowed money at a variable interest rate.



This is because floating rates are cheaper than fixed rates.


Enlarging an image

But things have changed.



This month, two of the four major commercial banks have higher interest rates on floating products than fixed ones, and the gap between the other two has narrowed significantly.



Variable-rate loans follow the co-fix, which refers to the cost of financing a bank.



Conversely, fixed rates follow the rates of five-year bonds issued by banks, but interest rates on bank bonds are relatively low because they are considered to be stable.



If this month's rate hike of 0.5 percentage points is reflected, the gap could widen further.



[Hong Ki-hoon/Professor, Hongik University Business School: If interest rates are raised more in the next month, commercial banks may respond first.

A situation may arise in which the interest burden felt by borrowers in a short period of time may be greater than the big step we experienced.]



As interest rates fluctuate, it is necessary to put aside the idea that variable interest rates are better unconditionally. There is.



(Video editing: Park Ki-duk, VJ: Park Hyun-woo)