Stock of deposits with agreed maturity fell below EUR 10 bn

Households have for a long time already shown little interest in deposits with agreed maturity. In March 2016, the stock of deposits with agreed maturity fell below EUR 10 bn, the lowest level in nearly 16 years. The popularity of deposits with agreed maturity has been eroded by the decline in the interest rates paid thereon. In March, new household deposits with agreed maturity were remunerated at an average interest rate of 0.7%, while the interest rate on new deposit agreements one year earlier was still slightly above 1%. Some of the deposits with agreed maturity are structured deposits, in which part of the total interest paid is linked to the value of an external indicator such as movements in stock prices. The demand for these deposits has also faded; their share in deposits with agreed maturity has fallen to a nearly marginal level.

While the popularity of deposits with agreed maturity has been fading, households' redeemable and overnight deposits have increased. During the past 12 months, overnight deposits have increased by EUR 3.2 bn and redeemable deposits by EUR 0.8 bn. At the end of March 2016, the stock of redeemable deposits, comprising different types of savings accounts, was EUR 14.9 bn, which was the highest level in three years.

Loans

In March 2016, households' new drawdowns of housing loans amounted to EUR 1.4 bn, which is nearly as much as a year earlier in March. The average interest rate on new housing-loan drawdowns was 1.23% and the imputed margin 1.21%. The stock of euro-denominated housing loans totalled EUR 92.2 bn at the end of March, and the annual growth rate of the housing loan stock was 2.5%. At the end of March, household credit comprised EUR 14.1 bn in consumer credit and EUR 16.1 bn in other loans.

New drawdowns of loans to non-financial corporations (excl. overdrafts and credit card credit) amounted to EUR 2.2 bn in March. The average interest rate on new corporate-loan drawdowns declined from February, to 1.76%. At the end of March, the stock of euro-denominated loans to non-financial corporations was EUR 73.3 bn, of which loans to housing corporations accounted for EUR 23.8 bn.

Deposits

At the end of March, the stock of household deposits totalled EUR 81.9 bn, and the average interest rate on the deposits was 0.26%. Overnight deposits accounted for EUR 57.1 bn and deposits with agreed maturity for EUR 10.0 bn of the total deposit stock. In March, households concluded EUR 0.6 bn of new agreements on deposits with agreed maturity.

Notes:
MFIs comprise all monetary financial institutions operating in Finland.
Loans and deposits comprise all euro-denominated loans and deposits vis-à-vis the euro area as a whole, with countries other than Finland accounting for a very small share of total volumes.