S. Korea warns of household debt growth, calls for additional regulations. Government data showed household loans extended by banks rose for the first time in three months in February. Housing prices in the three districts in southern Seoul rose 0.2 percent in the second week of March, marking the sharpest weekly growth since August. Tighter DSR rules will come into effect in September as planned, with details to be finalised by May, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) has said. The FSC introduced the so-called stress DSR ratio, which measures how much a borrower has to pay for principal and interest in proportion to his or her yearly income, serving as a ceiling on aggregate lending. The report said it will be necessary to respond through additional macroprudential measures, such as the expansion of the scope of debt service ratio (DSR) application. The BOK made the suggestion in its latest biannual monetary policy report, as government data showed that banks’ outstanding household loans stood at 1,143.7 trillion won ($787.34 billion) as of end-February, up 3.3 trillion won from a month earlier.