Elderly face severe debt woes, report says

South Koreans in their 60s or older are facing the highest debt-servicing burden to income in the world, a state-run think tank report said on Wednesday.

The ratio of debts to income among households aged 60 or more reached 161 percent in 2014, according to the Korea Development Institute report. It surpassed the country's average ratio of 128 percent for all ages.

The report said South Korea is the only country in the world having a higher debt-to-income ratio for the elderly than for all ages.

The elderly in the United States and Europe tend to reduce household debts as they get older, but it was delayed among the South Korean elderly to their 50s, according to the report.

Income stability is lower among the South Korean elderly than those in Europe and the United States. The ratio of stable income, including pensions and transfer income, to the total stood merely at 29 percent for the elderly in South Korea, lower than over 70 percent in Germany and the Netherlands and a relatively low level of 39 percent in the US.

If macroeconomic conditions change and the elderly are forced to repay debts rapidly, they vi//face short-term problems with their debt-servicing capability, the report said.

In South Korea, the ratio of household debts to GDP jumped to 81 percent in 2014. Among the total debts, those of the elderly accounted for 53 percent in 2014, up from 41 percent 10 years ago.

The Bank of Korea lowered its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points in August and October last year before cutting it further in March and June this year to an all-time low of 1.5 percent.