Drawdowns of small (under EUR 250 000) and medium-sized (between EUR 250 000 and EUR 1 million) corporate loans grew in the first half of 2017. Over the longer term, too, drawdowns of small corporate loans, in particular, have been on the rise. At the same time, however, drawdowns of large corporate loans (over EUR 1 million) declined and total drawdowns of corporate loans were down on the same period a year earlier.

In the first half of 2017 the average interest rate1 on new corporate loans remained more or less the same as in the same period in 2016. Interest rates on small and medium-sized loans have, however, come down: in July 2017, the average interest was 2.17% on small loans and 1.58% on medium-sized loans. In July, the average interest on drawdowns of large loans was 1.33%.

The stock of corporate loans has grown steadily since the beginning of 2014. In the first half of 2017, it grew by approximately EUR 2 billion, although according to the latest data it contracted slightly in July. The corporate loan stock excluding housing corporations exceeded EUR 50 billion at the end of 2016, and in July 2017 it stood at EUR 50.8 billion. The loan stock including housing corporations has grown since the start of 2017, to EUR 78 billion.

1 Excl. factoring.

Loans

In July 2017, households drew down new housing loans to the value of EUR 1.4 billion, at an average interest rate of 1.07% and an imputed margin of 1.05%. At the end of July, the stock of euro-denominated housing loans stood at EUR 95.0 billion. Household credit at the end of July comprised EUR 15 billion in consumer credit and EUR 16.5 billion in other loans.

New drawdowns of loans to non-financial corporations (excl. overdrafts and card credit) amounted to EUR 1.2 billion in July. The average interest rate on new corporate loan drawdowns rose from June to stand at 2.18%. The stock of euro-denominated loans to non-financial corporations at the end of July stood at EUR 78.1 billion, of which loans to housing corporations accounted for EUR 27.2 billion.

Deposits

At the end of July, the stock of household deposits stood at EUR 86.8 billion, and the average interest on these deposits was 0.15%. Of the overall stock of deposits, overnight deposits accounted for EUR 64.6 billion, while deposits with agreed maturity accounted for EUR 7.2 billion. In July, households concluded EUR 0.2 billion of new agreements on deposits with agreed maturity, at an average interest rate of 0.41%.

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

  May, EUR million June, EUR million July, EUR million July, 12-month change1, % Average interest rate, %
Loans to households2, stock 125,900 126,318 126,560 2,3 1,54
    - of which housing loans 94,651 94,985 95,103 2,0 1,04
Loans to non-financial corporations2, stock  78,252 78,291 78,079 5,7 1,41
Deposits by households2, stock 86,302 87,080 86,821 1,9 0,15
Households' new drawdowns of housing loans 1,689 1,774 1,379   1,07

 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
Ville Tolkki, tel. +358 9 183 2420, email: ville.tolkki(at)bof.fi,
Markus Aaltonen, tel. +358 9 183 2395, email: markus.aaltonen(at)bof.fi,
Olli Tuomikoski, tel. +358 9 183 2146, email: olli.tuomikoski(at)bof.fi.

The next news release will be published at 1 pm on 29 September 2017.

Related statistical data and graphs are also available on the Bank of Finland website: https://www.suomenpankki.fi/en/Statistics/mfi-balance-sheet/.

You can also subscribe to the monthly Loans, deposits and interest rates –newsletter to your email from the Bank of Finland website