Bank Lending Survey (BLS): Q4 2022
31/01/2023 - Press Releases
- The credit standards for loans to non-financial corporations (NFCs) remained unchanged in the fourth quarter of 2022. The terms and conditions remained also unchanged, while the overall demand for corporate loans increased.
- The credit standards as well as the terms and conditions for loans to households remained unchanged. The demand for consumer credit and housing loans remained almost unchanged.
Loans to non-financial corporations
In the fourth quarter of 2022, the credit standards for loans to non-financial corporations (NFCs) remained unchanged (see Chart 1) compared with the third quarter of 2022, in line with the expectations expressed in the previous quarterly survey round. Moreover, banks expect that credit standards will also remain unchanged during the first quarter of 2023.
The overall terms and conditions for loans to NFCs remained unchanged compared with the third quarter of 2022.
During the fourth quarter of 2022, the overall demand for loans and especially for long-term loans increased, both from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as from large enterprises (see Chart 2), driven mainly by financing needs for fixed investment and working capital. During the next quarter, the overall demand for loans by both SMEs and large corporations is expected to increase further.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, the ratio of rejected applications for loans to NFCs remained unchanged compared with the previous quarter (see Chart 3).
Loans to households
In the fourth quarter of 2022, the credit standards as well as the terms and conditions for loans to households remained unchanged compared with the third quarter of 2022 (see Chart 1), in line with the expectations expressed in the previous quarterly survey round.
The demand for consumer credit and housing loans remained almost unchanged (see Chart 2). During the next quarter, the overall demand for housing and consumer loans is also expected to remain almost unchanged.
Banks expect that, during the first quarter of 2023, credit standards for housing and consumer loans will remain unchanged.
The ratio of rejected applications for loans to households remained almost unchanged during the fourth quarter of 2022 (see Chart 3) compared with the previous quarter.
Chart 1 - Credit Standards (Average)
Chart 2 - Demand (Average)
Chart 3 - Share of rejected applications (Average)
Related information:
The next Press Release on the “Bank Lending Survey” for Q1 2023 will be published on 2 May 2023, in accordance with the Advance release calendar published on the Bank of Greece website.
Related links:
More on the Bank Lending Survey
Methodology