Further increase in drawdowns of unsecured consumer credit
The volume of households' unsecured consumer credit1 (excl. overdrafts and credit card credit) from Finnish credit institutions has increased further in the early part of 2018. In January–May 2018, drawdowns of unsecured consumer credit grew by over 13% on the year-earlier period. In addition, drawdowns of new unsecured consumer credit were record high in May, at EUR 264 million.
The annual growth rate of the stock of unsecured consumer credit slowed to 8.1% in March 2018, from 14.1% in March 2017. However, with the increase in new consumer credit drawdowns, the growth rate picked up to almost 9.0% in May 2018.
The average interest rate on new unsecured consumer credit has risen in the course of the year by about 0.5 percentage point, to 5.7% in May. However, the interest rates vary considerably among credit institutions. In May, the average interest rate on new loans granted by credit institutions specialised in unsecured consumer credit was 16.6%, while the average interest rate on consumer credit by commercial banks was 4.6%.
Loans
Households' new drawdowns of housing loans in May 2018 amounted to EUR 1.8 bn. The average interest rate on new housing-loan drawdowns was 0.88% and the imputed margin was 0.86%. At the end of May 2018, the stock of euro-denominated housing loans totalled EUR 96.7 bn and the annual growth rate of the stock was 2.2%. Household credit at end-May comprised EUR 15.5 bn in consumer credit and EUR 16.7 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 May 2018. The average interest rate on new corporate-loan drawdowns declined from April, to 1.83%. At the end of May, the stock of euro-denominated loans to non-financial corporations was EUR 81.9 bn, of which loans to housing corporations accounted for EUR 29.6 bn.
Deposits
At the end of May, the stock of household deposits totalled EUR 85.6 bn and the average interest rate on the deposits was 0.13%. Overnight deposits accounted for EUR 71.2 bn and deposits with agreed maturity for EUR 5.6 bn of the deposit stock. In May, households concluded EUR 0.3 bn of new agreements on deposits with agreed maturity, at an average interest rate of 0.32%.
1Unsecured consumer credit comprises uncollateralised loans and loans not fully covered by collateral.
Key figures of Finnish MFIs' loans and deposits, preliminary data
| March, EUR million | April, EUR million | May, EUR million | May, 12-month change1, % | Average interest rate, % | |
| Loans to households2, stock | 128,425 | 128,528 | 128,981 | 2,6 | 1,49 |
| - of which housing loans | 96,237 | 96,307 | 96,698 | 2,2 | 0,99 |
| Loans to non-financial corporations2, stock | 80,959 | 81,246 | 81,863 | 4,7 | 1,39 |
| Deposits by households2, stock | 88,492 | 89,171 | 89,667 | 3,9 | 0,12 |
| Households' new drawdowns of housing loans | 1,494 | 1,584 | 1,762 | 0,88 |
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
- Euro-denominated deposits and loans of euro area residents: stock, 12 month rate of change and average interest rate
- Euro-denominated loans and deposits of Finnish households
- New business on loans and new drawdowns of household loans
- Finnish contribution to the euro area monetary aggregates and their main counterparts
- Imputed interest rate margins on loans from MFIs
For further information, please contact:
Johanna Honkanen, tel. +358 9 183 2992, email: johanna.honkanen(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 31 July 2018.
Related statistical data and graphs are also available on the Bank of Finland website: https://www.suomenpankki.fi/en/Statistics/mfi-balance-sheet/.