[Anchor]

Joining us for Tuesday's Friendly Economy is reporter Han Jiyeon. Han, I wish we could stop talking about rising prices.

[Reporter]

Unfortunately, grocery prices are rising once again.

Ottogi will raise the prices of 29 products, including curry, glass noodles, ketchup, and pepper, starting the day after tomorrow (July 16).

Among them, pepper will see the sharpest increase.

Prices will rise by an average of 17 percent. A can of pure pepper that currently costs 4,850 won will become 5,380 won.

Glass noodles will increase by 10 percent, while curry and ketchup will see hikes in the 6 percent range.

Packaging materials, such as those for curry and ketchup, are made from naphtha. As international oil prices have risen, the cost of packaging has surged, and combined with the rising exchange rate, the prices of imported raw materials like pepper have also gone up.

This is not just an issue for Ottogi.

Last month, Chilsung Cider and Pepsi also saw price increases of over 5 percent.

As price hikes continue across the food industry, the burden on household budgets is expected to persist for the time being.

[Anchor]

It seems repair costs for Samsung Electronics products are also going up.

[Reporter]

Samsung Electronics raised the cost of repair parts earlier this month. In fact, this is the second time this year.

Smartphone parts costs have risen by an average of 5 percent, while parts for home appliances like refrigerators and washing machines have increased by an average of 9 percent. This comes just six months after the previous hike in January.

Since last year, the continuous rise in prices for semiconductors and various components has led to a series of price hikes for new products, and now it has begun to affect after-sales service costs as well.

One could say that so-called chipflation has spread to the service market.

Since 80 to 90 percent of repair costs consist of the price of parts, repair fees paid by consumers are bound to rise when parts prices go up.

Components such as motors and compressors used in air conditioners and washing machines were included in this latest price increase. However, TV parts were excluded because the price difference with competitors is not significant.

But the future is more concerning.

There are forecasts that the prices of new products will rise. One market research firm predicted that global smartphone prices would increase by 21 percent this year compared to last year.

In fact, there are projections that the domestic retail prices of new smartphones from Apple and Samsung Electronics to be released in the second half of this year could reach around 3 million won.

[Anchor]

The second half of the year has just begun, but banks are already tightening loans.

[Reporter]

Last week, Kookmin Bank reduced its mortgage loan limit by half to 300 million won. Following this, as banks have reached 80 percent of their annual household loan targets, they are raising the barriers to borrowing one after another.

While no other bank has reduced the mortgage loan limit itself like Kookmin Bank yet, they have started to tighten their loan application windows.

A prime example is the loan solicitor channel. A solicitor refers to a sales employee who provides loan consultations and accepts applications outside of the bank.

Hana Bank stopped accepting applications from solicitors for mortgage and jeonse (lump-sum housing lease) loans scheduled for execution in September, starting from the 10th. Just a week ago, they had only blocked applications for August, but this has now been expanded to include September.

Shinhan Bank has completely suspended loan applications through solicitors for this month, and NongHyup Bank has already exhausted its loan limit for solicitors for this month.

The problem is the so-called balloon effect, where loan demand blocked at Kookmin Bank shifts to other banks. In fact, there are reports of an increasing number of customers who intended to borrow from Kookmin Bank inquiring about which other banks offer higher limits.

The growth in loans is also showing no signs of slowing down.

As of the 10th, the outstanding balance of household loans at the five major banks exceeded 776 trillion won, with an increase of over 1 trillion won in this month alone.

This is largely due to the delayed reflection of increased housing transactions from April and May, which are only now leading to loan executions, combined with demand for credit loans from people looking to invest as the stock market performs well.

In the banking sector, there are forecasts that if the current growth trend continues, more banks may follow Kookmin Bank in reducing loan limits or restricting new loan applications.