This chart shows Korea's household debt-to-GDP ratio rocketing to 89%
In fact, it may have jumped to over 90% by now.
According to Nomura, Korea‟s household debt-to-GDP ratio hit a record high 89% in Q3 2012. Given the sharp increase in bank loans to households, yet only modest gains in GDP in Q4, the firm believes the ratio may have now risen to over 90%.
Here's more from Nomura:
If the new government implements very aggressive measures to boost the property market (not our base case), we would expect to see household debt rise much faster than GDP, leaving the financial system vulnerable to adverse external shocks.
With household debt outpacing GDP growth, and with CPI inflation and GDP growth picking up from a very low base, we expect the Bank of Korea to keep rates unchanged at 2.75% this Friday and for the rest of 2013.