SEOUL, May 16 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's bank loan delinquency ratio fell for the first time in three months in March as banks resolved delinquent loans ahead of the end of the first quarter, financial watchdog data showed Thursday.

The ratio of bank loans overdue at least one month stood at 0.46 percent of the total as of end-March, down 0.06 percentage points from a month earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

It was the first decline in three months as banks resolved more delinquent loans than the newly delinquent debts to clean their books ahead of the quarter end.

The bad debt ratio for corporate loans slipped 0.08 percentage points over the month to 0.59 percent at the end of March. The ratio for big corporations lost 0.01 percentage point to 0.74 percent, and the figure for small firms dipped 0.1 percent to 0.56 percent.

The delinquent loan ratio for household debts was down 0.04 percentage points to 0.29 percent in the same period. The reading for mortgage loans fell 0.01 percentage point to 0.21 percent, and the figure for credit loans contracted 0.11 percentage points to 0.45 percent.