Bank loans grew by 64 percent month-on-month in Slovakia in February, after a 50-percent drop was recorded in January, according to statistics from the Slovak Central Bank (NBS) released on March 30, the TASR newswire wrote.
Loans to companies increased by 62 percent m-o-m to €757 million, out of which new operation and investment loans grew by 70 percent, while real-estate loans went up by 17 percent. Other types of loans recorded an increase of one-third m-o-m in February.
The reason behind this significant increase is that January is usually a weak month for new loans which leads to banks recording more significant loan growth in the following month. The m-o-m increase in loans in February of last year, however, stood at a much lower figure of just 15 percent.
Loans to individuals increased significantly m-o-m as well in February, by 72 percent to €253 million. The biggest growth was seen in consumer loans - 93 percent, followed by real-estate loans - 66 percent, and other loans - 59 percent. For comparison, loans to individuals increased by 12 percent m-o-m in February 2008. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
