SLOVAKS borrowed a total of €19.62 billion from banks by the end of 2013. Based on the statistics of the National Bank of Slovakia, in an annual comparison this is an increase of 9.9 percent. Since the end of 2008, loans to households increased by 66.6 percent, up from €11.78 billion. Slovaks’ appetite for loans is growing every year, although the growth has slowed somewhat, the SITA newswire wrote on January 30.
Housing loans make up most of the overall growth of retail loans. Last year saw €4.7 billion in housing loans, having grown by 29 percent. According to Prima Banka, Slovaks used a significant part of their loans to refinance existing loans. In total, housing loans increased by 11.8 percent year-on-year to €14.87 billion. Consumer loans grew 11.7 percent to €2.81 billion.
