For the first time in history the amount of SME loans from nonbank lenders has surpassed the 90 trillion won mark, according to Bank of Korea. South Korean nonbank financial institutions' lending to smaller firms surged nearly 10 trillion won ($8.8 billion) in the first four months of the year amid tighter government control on household loans. Nonbank lenders' outstanding loans to small and medium enterprises came to 90.7 trillion won as of the end of April, up 9.9 trillion won from the end of last year.

Analysts attributed the surge in nonbank lenders' loans to SMEs to the financial authorities' strengthened rules for loans to consumers in a bid to curb the country's snowballing household debt.

If the current pace continues, nonbank lenders' loans to SMEs for all of 2017 are forecast to outstrip the 19.9 trillion won posted last year. The on-year growth rate of nonbank institutions' SME loans hit 12.3 percent in the January-April period, far higher than the 2.7 percent gain for bank lending.