Press Releases

Interest Rates on Bank Deposits and Loans: October 2013

04/12/2013 - Press Releases

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

In October 2013, the overall weighted average interest rate on new deposits decreased, while the corresponding interest rate on new loans increased. The interest rate spread* between loan and deposit rates increased by 11 basis points to stand at 3.71 percentage points (see Table 1).

In the case of deposits, the average interest rates on overnight deposits from households and from non-financial corporations remained almost unchanged, in October 2013, at 0.39% and 0.41% respectively. The average interest rate on deposits from households with an agreed maturity of up to one year decreased further by 13 basis points to stand at 2.97%. The overall weighted average interest rate on all new deposits decreased by 6 basis points to stand at 1.90% in October 2013.

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 by 20 basis points and stood at 14.86% in October 2013. The average interest rate on consumer loans with a defined maturity, at a floating rate or with an initial rate fixation period of up to one year increased by 11 basis points to stand at 7.51%.

The average interest rate on corporate loans and loans to sole proprietors without a defined maturity remained basically unchanged at 7.19% and 9.36% respectively in October 2013. 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 decreased by 12 basis points to 6.77% for loans up to EUR 250,000, decreased by 30 basis points to 6.19% for loans above EUR 250,000 and up to EUR 1 million, and increased by 21 basis points to 6.14% for loans above EUR 1 million. Finally, the average interest rate on housing loans at a floating rate or with an initial fixation period of up to one year decreased by 8 basis points and stood at 2.85%. The overall weighted average interest rate on all new loans to households and corporations stood at 5.61% in October 2013, compared with 5.56% in the previous month.

 

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

In October 2013, the overall weighted average interest rate on outstanding amounts of all deposits decreased, while the corresponding rate on all loans remained almost unchanged. The spread* between loan and deposit rates increased by 9 basis points to stand at 3.46 percentage points (see Table 2).

In particular, in October 2013, the average interest rate on outstanding amounts of deposits from households with an agreed maturity of up to two years decreased by 19 basis points to stand at 3.48% while the corresponding rate on deposits from non-financial corporations decreased by 15 basis points to stand at 3.13%. The average interest rate on outstanding amounts of housing loans with over five years’ maturity remained unchanged at 3.12%, the corresponding rate on corporate loans increased by 3 basis points to stand at 4.68%, while the rate on loans to sole proprietors decreased by 25 basis points to stand at 5.69%.

In October 2013, the overall weighted average interest rate on the outstanding amount of all deposits (including overnight deposits) decreased by 11 basis points to stand at 2.21% while the corresponding rate on loans remained almost unchanged at 5.67%.

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

*The interest rate spread is the difference between the overall weighted average rate on all loans and the overall weighted average rate on all deposits.
**For the calculation of this average rate the overnight deposits are also taken into account.