The issuance of asset-backed securities (ABSs) in South Korea jumped 38.1 percent from a year earlier in the first three months of the year on a sharp increase in those issued by financial institutions, data showed Monday.

The ABSs issued in the January-March period came to 14.9 trillion won (US$10.8 billion), up 4.1 trillion won from the same period last year, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service.

ABS refers to securities based on such assets as mortgages, auto loans, credit card receivables and student loans.

ABSs issued by financial companies more than doubled to over 6.89 trillion won from 2.5 trillion won over the cited period, while mortgage-backed securities issued by the state-run housing finance firm, the Korea Housing Finance Corp., dipped 16.3 percent on-year to 5.88 trillion won.

The value of outstanding ABSs stood at 258.4 trillion won as of end-March, up 27.6 trillion won, or 12 percent, from a year earlier.

Source: Yonhap News Agency