Statistics 31 January 2022 10:00 AM

December 2021 sees an exceptionally large amount of corporate loan drawdowns

Drawdowns of new loans to non-financial corporations^[1] were exceptionally brisk in December 2021, totalling EUR 6.5 bn. This was the largest amount ever within a single month. The average interest rate on new corporate loan drawdowns declined distinctively from November and stood at 0.75%. In December, drawdowns of large loans,. i.e. loans of over EUR 1 million, totalled EUR 5.9 bn, accounting for 91% of all corporate loan drawdowns. The average interest rate on new large loans was 0.59% in December. Companies that took out new loans operated mainly in the energy and manufacturing sector.

At the end of December 2021, the stock of loans to non-financial corporations^[2] granted by banks operating in Finland totalled EUR 59.8 bn. The corporate loan stock was about EUR 1.5 bn larger than at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, but smaller than, for example, in May 2020, when it amounted to 60.8 bn. The loan stock grew rapidly at the beginning of the pandemic, but contracted from June 2020 onwards. In December 2021, the corporate loan stock grew notably from November (by EUR 2.2 bn), and at the same time the annual rate of change of the stock turned positive. In December 2021, the corporate loan stock grew at an annual rate of 1.4%.

Concurrent with the substantial amount of loan drawdowns, the stock of corporate deposits grew by EUR 3.8 bn on November. At the end of December 2021, the stock of deposits placed by Finnish non-financial corporations stood at EUR 50.3 bn, of which overnight deposits accounted for EUR 49.1 bn. In December, the average interest rate on the deposits was -0.09%.

Loans

Finnish households drew down EUR 1.8 bn of new housing loans in December 2021, down EUR 100 million on the same month last year. Of the new housing loans, buy-to-let mortgages accounted for 9.9%. At the end of December 2021, the stock of housing loans stood at EUR 107.0 bn, and the annual growth rate of the stock was 4.1%. Buy-to-let mortgages accounted for 8.1% of the housing loan stock. Out of all loans of Finnish households at end-December, consumer credit totalled EUR 16.8 bn and other loans EUR 17.9 bn.

Drawdowns of new loans by housing corporations in December 2021 totalled EUR 680 million. The average interest rate on these declined from November and was 1.26%. At the end of December, the stock of loans to housing corporations stood at EUR 39.5 bn.

Deposits

The stock of Finnish households’ deposits at end-December 2021 stood at EUR 109 bn, and the average interest rate on the deposits was 0.03%. Overnight deposits accounted for EUR 100.1 bn and deposits with agreed maturity for EUR 2.2 bn of the deposit stock. In December, Finnish households concluded EUR 53 million of new agreements on deposits with agreed maturity, at an average interest rate of 0.26%.

Loans and deposits to Finland, preliminary data
	October, EUR million	November, EUR million	December, EUR million	December, 12-month change¹, %	Average interest rate, %
Loans to households, stock	141,052	141,390	141,719	4,0	1,30
- of which housing loans	106,329	106,688	106,997	4,1	0,78
- of which buy-to-let mortgages	8,528	8,574	8,641		0,91
Loans to non-financial corporations², stock	96,439	97,044	99,337	3,2	1,21
Deposits by households, stock	110,163	109,093	109,006	5,6	0,03
Households' new drawdowns of housing loans	1,884	1,931	1,807		0,77
- of which buy-to-let mortgages	175	180	179		0,94

* Includes loans and deposits in all currencies to residents in Finland. The statistical releases of the Bank of Finland up to January 2021, as well as those of the ECB, present loans and deposits in euro to euro area residents and also include non-profit institutions serving households. For these reasons, the figures in this table differ from those in the aforementioned releases.
1 Rate of change has been calculated from monthly differences in levels adjusted for classification and other revaluation changes.
2 Non-financial corporations also include housing corporations.