Statistics 30 April 2020 10:00 AM

Drawdowns of large corporate loans high in March 2020

In March 2020, Finnish non-financial corporations (excl. housing corporations) drew down EUR 2.5 bn of new loans[1] from Finnish credit institutions, up by over EUR 800 million on the corresponding month a year earlier. Corporate loan drawdowns have last been higher month-on-month in June 2018. Of the loans drawn down in March, the share of manufacturing[2] company loans was the largest (24%).

In euro terms, most of the new corporate loan drawdowns (79%) in March were large loans of over EUR 1 million. Drawdowns of smaller corporate loans (up to EUR 250,000) accounted for 12% and were lower than in the corresponding month a year earlier. The average interest rate on new corporate loans was 1.93% and the average rate on large corporate loans was 1.47%.

Non-financial corporations renegotiated loan agreements in March 2020 in the amount of EUR 1.1 bn, which is over double the amount renegotiated a year earlier in March. For smaller[3] corporate loans, the renegotiated amount was as much as four times higher than a year earlier.

Fuelled by the high level of loan drawdowns, the stock of corporate[4] loans grew to EUR 58.3 bn in March 2020 and the annual growth rate of the stock rose to 9.6%. At the end of March, companies had EUR 18 bn of undrawn credit facilities, i.e. almost the same amount as in February 2020.

March 2020 also saw a brisk growth in the stock of corporate[5] commercial paper arranged by Finnish credit institutions (EUR 5.3 bn). New issuance activity was brisk and the stock grew by EUR 1.4 bn on the previous month. The highest growth was recorded in the stock of commercial paper issued by manufacturing companies.

Loans

In March 2020, households’ drawdowns of new housing loans amounted to EUR 1.7 bn, up by EUR 250 million on the corresponding month a year earlier. At the end of March, the stock of euro-denominated housing loans totalled EUR 100.7 bn and the annual growth rate of the stock was 2.7%. Household credit at end-March comprised EUR 16.7 bn in consumer credit and EUR 17.7 bn in other loans. New drawdowns of loans by housing corporations (excl. overdrafts and credit card credit) amounted to EUR 490 million. The average interest rate on these rose from February, to 1.10%. At the end of March, the stock of loans to housing corporations totalled EUR 35.6 bn.

Deposits

At the end of March 2020, the stock of deposits of Finnish households amounted to EUR 96.9 bn and the average interest rate on the deposits was 0.10%. Overnight deposits accounted for EUR 84.3 bn and deposits with an agreed maturity for EUR 4.5 bn of the deposit stock. In March, households concluded EUR 0.2 bn of new agreements on deposits with an agreed maturity, at an average interest rate of 0.15%.

Key figures of Finnish MFIs' loans and deposits, preliminary data
	January, EUR million	February, EUR million	March, EUR million	March, 12-month change¹, %	Average interest rate, %
Loans to households², stock	134,706	135,011	135,115	3,1	1,43
- of which housing loans	100,269	100,541	100,694	2,7	0,88
Loans to non-financial corporations², stock	91,960	92,392	94,169	9,4	1,31
Deposits by households², stock	99,040	99,973	100,990	5,9	0,09
Households' new drawdowns of housing loans	1,361	1,563	1,713		0,71

* Includes euro-denominated loans and deposits to euro area.
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