The Central Bank of Ireland has released Ireland’s Money and Banking Statistics for April 2017. Drawdowns of consumer loans exceeded repayments by €158 million in April, the largest monthly increase since January 2011. The new lending largely comprises medium term loans, which typically include car loans, furniture and holiday loans. Here is an overview of the latest statistics:
Developments in Household credit and deposits
- Loans to households, adjusted for loans sales and securitisations, declined by 2.1 per cent in annual terms to end-April.
- Mortgage loans, which account for 83 per cent of total on-balance sheet loans, decreased in net terms by €105 million in April. This follows an increase of €127 million in March. In year-on-year terms, net mortgage lending declined by €552 million, or 0.7 per cent.
- Non-housing loans increased by 1.5 per cent in annual terms to end-April, representing six consecutive months of annual growth. Drawdowns on consumer loans exceeded repayments by €245 million up to end-April in 2017. The April net flow of €158 million marked the largest positive monthly movement since January 2011. Loans for other purposes continued to record negative net flows, with repayments over the 12 months to end-April exceeding drawdowns by €372 million.
- Deposits from households increased in net terms by €1.1 billion in April. In annual terms, household deposit lodgements were €3.4 billion higher than withdrawals, growing by 3.5 per cent over the year. Household deposits of €99.1 billion are now at their highest level since February 2010.
- Developments in loans and deposits mean that Irish households continued to be net funders of the Irish banking system. Banks held €10.1 billion more household deposits than loans at end-April, a €586 million increase on March’s holdings. In contrast, household loans exceeded deposits by €72.6 billion in May 2008.
Developments in NFC credit and deposits
- Net lending to NFCs declined by €1.7 billion, or 3.8 per cent, in annual terms to end-April. There was a €356 million increase in net NFC lending during April, which follows a revised increase of a €253 million in March and marks the first two months of consecutive increases since November 2014.
- Medium-term loans remain as the only positive flow category since the beginning of 2015. Over the month, drawdowns in these medium-term loans exceeded repayments by €371 million, while in annual terms, medium-term net lending to NFCs increased by 0.4 per cent to end-April, with drawdowns exceeding repayments by €163 million.
- NFC deposits increased by €1.1 billion in net terms in April, in contrast to a decrease of €892 million recorded in March. This rise was predominantly driven by growth in overnight deposits.
- Total NFC deposits grew by 6.9 per cent annually to end-April, increasing from the 5.1 per cent growth recorded in March.
Developments in other counterparty sectors
- Lending to the private sector has been the main driver of net lending to Irish residents since early 2014 and accounted for 74 per cent of banks’ loan books in April . In annual terms, outstanding loans to the Irish private sector declined by 2.2 per cent in April.
- Credit institutions’ holdings of Irish issued debt and equity securities decreased by €1.3 billion in March.
- Irish banks’ borrowings from the Central Bank as part of Eurosystem monetary policy operations decreased by €170 million in April. The outstanding stock of Central Bank borrowings was €8 billion, with the domestic market banks accounting for 95 per cent of this.
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