SEOUL (Reuters) - Creditor institutions may lend support to some automakers in 2009, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said on Friday, raising hopes that troubled sport-utility vehicle maker Ssangyong Motor may get a lifeline.

The government "will consider measures to lend liquidity support to some automakers, centred around creditor institutions," the ministry said in its new year policy report to President Lee Myung-bak.

Ssangyong shares had jumped prior to the embargoed announcement on market speculation that the government was going to announce support measures.

Shares in the automaker, 51 percent owned by Shanghai-based SAIC Motor Corp , were up 1.46 percent at 1,040 won by 0301 GMT, outpacing the wider market's 0.46 percent drop.

Ssangyong, a sport-utility vehicle maker which ranks fifth among the country's automakers led by Hyundai Motor , has been under heavy pressure amid doubts about SAIC's willingness to rescue the company.