Press Releases

Interest Rates on Bank Deposits and Loans: February 2011

04/04/2011 - Press Releases

1. INTEREST RATES ON NEW EURO-DENOMINATED DEPOSITS AND LOANS

In February 2011 the average interest rates on new deposits remained unchanged, while those on new loans increased with the exception of rates on new housing loans that decreased (see Table 1).

More specifically, in February 2011, the average interest rates on overnight deposits from households and non-financial corporations remained unchanged at 0.44% and 0.34% respectively. Similarly, the average interest rate on deposits from households with an agreed maturity of up to 1 year remained at 3.75%.

In the case of loans, the average interest rate on consumer loans without a defined maturity (a category which includes credit card debt, open account loans, and debit balances on current accounts) increased in February 2011 by 5 basis points to 14.64%. Similarly, both the average interest rate on corporate loans without a defined maturity and the corresponding rate on loans to sole proprietors increased by 9 and 14 basis points to 6.90% and 9.72% respectively. The average interest rate on corporate loans with a defined maturity at a floating rate or with an initial rate fixation period of up to one year increased by 9 basis points to 6.23% for loans up to EUR 1 million, and by 48 basis points to 5.37% for loans above EUR 1 million. On the other hand, the average interest rates on housing loans decreased by 2 basis points to 3.91% for loans at a floating rate or with an initial rate fixation period of up to one year and by 7 basis points to 3.57% for loans with an initial fixation period of over 1 and up to 5 years.

2. INTEREST RATES ON OUTSTANDING AMOUNTS OF EURO-DENOMINATED DEPOSITS AND LOANS

In February 2011 the average interest rates on outstanding amounts of deposits and loans increased with the exception of rates on housing loans that remained unchanged (see Table 2).

In particular, both the average interest rates on outstanding amounts of deposits from households and non-financial corporations with an agreed maturity of up to 2 years increased in February 2011 by 5 and 8 basis points to 3.55% and 3.69% respectively. The average interest rate on outstanding amounts of housing loans with over five years’ maturity remained unchanged at 3.68%, while the corresponding rates on corporate loans and loans to sole proprietors increased by 4 basis points to 4.66% and 5.71% respectively.

Table 1: Interest rates on new euro-denominated deposits and loans

Table 2: Average interest rates on outstanding amounts of euro-denominated deposits and loans