[Anchor]

It is Wednesday for "Friendly Economy," and reporter Han Jiyeon is here with us. Han, the base rate is ultimately decided by the Bank of Korea, but President Lee Jae-myung mentioned during a Cabinet meeting yesterday (the 13th) that interest rates are likely to rise further.

[Reporter]

Following the remarks by the BOK governor, the President has also raised the possibility of additional rate hikes.

This signals that the upward trend in interest rates is not over yet.

Interest rates have already risen quite a bit.

The BOK raised rates by 0.25 percentage points for two consecutive months in July and August, bringing the base rate—the starting point for all kinds of interest rates—to 3 percent per annum.

Even so, Governor Rhee Chang-yong recently stated during a parliamentary audit that the timing and pace of additional hikes would be weighed.

There are three main reasons.

Inflation remains high, the exchange rate is still high, and the United States has raised its interest rates.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, fell from 3.4 percent in August to 2.8 percent last month, but it still remains well above the 2 percent target.

Concerns were also raised that as income conditions improve, demand could spread beyond semiconductors and push up inflation.

The exchange rate, which has come down somewhat recently, is still considered to be at a high level.

The U.S. raised interest rates last month.

The interest rate gap between the two countries has widened back to 1 percentage point.

Governor Rhee noted that by raising rates a step ahead, we bought some time.

He explained that this incurs fewer costs than being forced to raise rates later on.

During yesterday's Cabinet meeting, the President also stated that the likelihood of interest rates going up in the future is high, and ordered groundbreaking measures to be drawn up as problems could arise for ordinary household finances.

Ahead of the Monetary Policy Board meeting on the 22nd next week, forecasts are divided on whether rates will be raised for the third consecutive month or paused for a month.

One securities firm projected that the board might pause this time, raise rates in November, and see the rate reach 3.5 percent early next year.

[Anchor]

Regardless of President Lee Jae-myung's remarks, as the global economy has entered a rate-hike cycle, both the government and individuals with heavy debts will inevitably face a growing burden.

[Reporter]

It is time to fasten your seatbelts tightly.

There is particular concern for the "young-kkeul" generation (those who borrowed every possible penny), who bought homes a few years ago by scraping together all their financial resources.

Around 2021, due to low interest rates, mixed-rate loans were widely issued, where rates were fixed for the first five years before shifting to follow market rates.

From September 2021 over the span of a year, nearly 13 trillion won in such 5-year fixed-rate loans were issued by the four major commercial banks.

As the fixed-rate periods for these loans expire sequentially from last month through August of next year, rates that were in the 3 percent range are jumping to the 5 percent range, causing monthly repayment amounts to surge sharply.

For example, if someone borrowed 300 million won at the average interest rate back then, when converted to the current bank fixed-rate level, their monthly repayment increases by more than 400,000 won, rising from 1.28 million won to about 1.7 million won.

Over the course of a year, they have to pay more than 5 million won extra.

Newly issued loans are no easier to handle.

The average mortgage rate in August jumped 0.18 percentage points in a single month to 4.66 percent, marking the highest level in 3 years and 9 months, while credit loan rates reached 6.33 percent, the highest in 2 years and 7 months.

You should check right now when your loan's fixed-rate period ends.

When refinancing, you must compare not only the interest rates but also the early repayment fees charged when paying off the loan mid-term.

[Anchor]

What is the final topic?

[Reporter]

This is some relatively welcome news amidst all of this.

Money that has not been returned to subscribers—namely, overpaid National Health Insurance premiums eligible for refunds—has reached 45.5 billion won.

Overpayments occur when health insurance premiums continue to be deducted based on former qualifications after a job change, or when premiums are paid twice.

From 2021 through August of this year, over 4 trillion won in such funds have been generated.

Last year alone exceeded 900 billion won, an increase of nearly 30 percent compared to 2021, and amounts to over 260 billion won through August of this year.

While most have been returned, 38.2 billion won remains unpaid, and 7.3 billion won has expired and can no longer be claimed.

Refunds must be claimed within three years.

In terms of the number of cases, local subscribers account for the majority, but in terms of monetary value, workplace subscribers hold a larger share at 28.6 billion won.

To check if you have unclaimed money, open the National Health Insurance Service website or app, where a prompt reading "Do you have unclaimed refunds?" is readily displayed.

You can click on it to check immediately.

I checked just in case, but unfortunately, there were none for me.

If checking online proves difficult, you can inquire through the customer service center, visit a nearby branch, or search for "National Secretary" (Kookmin Biseo) on KakaoTalk or the Naver app to sign up for notifications, allowing you to receive alerts when a refund is generated.

If you register a refund account in advance, future refunds will be deposited automatically.

However, you must be cautious of phishing scams taking advantage of this.

Keep in mind that text messages sent by the NHIS regarding refunds never contain internet links.

You should never click on text messages that include links.