The stock of euro-denominated loans to euro area non-financial corporations by credit institutions operating in Finland amounted to EUR 46.4 bn in August. Demand for corporate loans was moderate in the early part of the year as these loans increased by only EUR 0.7 bn on net. The annual growth rate of the corporate loan stock has declined in 2014, and in August it was 3.5%.

Domestic non-financial corporations acquired bank loans in the period under review mainly for restructuring and working capital purposes (Bank barometer III/2014). In addition to bank loans, domestic non-financial corporations' net drawdowns of short-term market funding in the form of promissory notes amounted to EUR 1.2 bn in the early part of 2014. Non-financial corporations however did not resort to bond issuance for funding their operations; net issues were a negative EUR 2.9 bn over the same period.

In the statistics, housing corporations are usually included in the corporate sector. The stock of loans to non-financial corporations (incl. housing corporations) was EUR 66.8 bn in August, i.e., housing corporations accounted for nearly one-third of the stock of corporate loans. The annual rate of change of the stock of loans to non-financial corporations was 5.9% in August, and the annual rate of change of loans to housing corporations was 12% in the same period. Consequently, growth in the stock of corporate loans is mainly due to an increase in debt financing by housing corporations.


Loans

Households' new drawdowns of housing loans in August 2014 amounted to EUR 1.2 bn. The average interest rate on new housing-loan drawdowns was 1.87%, down by 0.03 percentage point on July. The stock of euro-denominated housing loans to households amounted to EUR 89.3 bn at the end of August and the annual growth of the stock of housing loans was 1.7%. At the end of August, household credit comprised EUR 13.5 bn in consumer credit and EUR 15.5 bn in other loans.

New drawdowns of loans to non-financial corporations (excl. overdrafts and credit card credit) amounted to EUR 2.0 bn in August, which is EUR 0.3 bn less than in August 2013. The average interest rate on new loans to non-financial corporations fell from July, to 2.08% in August. The stock of euro-denominated loans to non-financial corporations was EUR 66.8 bn at the end of August, of which loans to housing corporations accounted for EUR 20.3 bn.

Deposits

At the end of August 2014, the stock of household deposits totalled EUR 81.7 bn, and the average interest rate on the stock was 0.42% Overnight deposits accounted for EUR 53.6 bn and fixed-term deposits for EUR 14.4 bn of the deposit stock. In August, households concluded new fixed-term deposit contracts for EUR 1.0 bn. The average interest rate on new fixed-term deposits was 1.07% in August.

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.
Further information on securities statistics is available at
http://www.suomenpankki.fi/globalassets/en/tilastot/arvopaperitilastot/Pages/default.aspx


Key figures of Finnish MFIs' loans and deposits, preliminary data

  June, EUR million July, EUR million August, EUR million August, 12-month change1, % Average interest rate, %
Loans to households2, stock 117,752 117,966 118,253 2,0 1,96
    - of which housing loans 88,991 89,110 89,296 1,7 1,51
Loans to non-financial corporations2, stock  66,636 66,345 66,774 5,9 1,94
Deposits by households2, stock 81,844 81,510 81,678 -0,4 0,42
Households' new drawdowns of housing loans 1,442 1,283 1,195 1,87

1 Rate of change has been calculated from monthly differences in levels adjusted for classification and other revaluation changes. 
2 Households also include non-profit institutions serving households; non-financial corporations also include housing corporations.

For further information, please contact:
Johanna Honkanen, tel. +358 10 831 2992, email: johanna.honkanen(at)bof.fi,
Essi Tamminen, tel. +358 10 831 2395, email: essi.tamminen(at)bof.fi.

The next news release will be published on 31 October 2014 at 1.00 pm.
Related statistical data and graphs are also available on the Bank of Finland website: http://www.suomenpankki.fi/globalassets/en/tilastot/

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