The combined value of loans extended by Hungarian commercial banks in August 2013 declined on an annual basis mainly due to lower demand from households and businesses, the central bank's financial statistics showed.
Lending to households extended its downward trend over the past 22 months, falling by 4.1% y/y to HUF 7.07tn (EUR 23.7bn) in August. The drop was due to lower lending in the house purchase segment and consumer credits, which declined by 4.2% y/y and 3.8% y/y, respectively.
The stock of credits to non-financial corporations reached HUF 6.83tn as of end-August, down by 2.3% y/y. The annual decrease softened from 3% y/y in the previous month.
The aggregate value of new forint-denominated household loans in August increased 15.6% y/y but dropped by 10.6% m/m. New consumer loans in domestic currency amounted to HUF 14.3bn in August 2013, marginally up from the same month of 2012. New housing loans went up to HUF 13.9bn from HUF 10.8bn in August 2012. In monthly comparison, new consumer loans dropped by 8.4% and housing loans were down by 6.6% in August.
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