SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's bank lending rate fell for three straight months amid an expected delay in the policy rate hike, central bank data showed Tuesday.

Rate for new bank loan to households averaged an annualized rate of 3.58 percent in January, down 0.03 percentage points from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The bank lending rate kept a downward trend for the third consecutive month on expectations that the BOK would delay its policy rate hike on worry about the country's export.

Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, dipped 5.9 percent in January from a year ago, after falling 1.7 percent in December last year.

Rate for bank mortgage loan slipped 0.07 percentage points over the month to 3.12 percent in January, the lowest since November 2016.

However, the average rate for corporate lending by banks added 0.04 percentage points to 3.81 percent last month as big corporations borrowed more money from banks.