At the end of May 2022, the total loans of Croatian financial institutions equaled HRK 294.7bn, representing an increase of 7.43% YoY, and 0.82% MoM.
The Croatian National Bank (HNB) has published a monthly report on the changes recorded by the Croatian financial institutions. In the report, we can see that as of the end of May 2022, the total loans of all financial institutions amounted to HRK 294.7bn, which is an increase of 0.82% MoM, and 7.43% YoY.
Looking at the household loans, which are the largest segment of the loans, increased by 5.2% YoY (or HRK 4.56bn), and 0.97% (or HRK 1.39bn) MoM. At the same time, corporate loans grew by 11.2% YoY (or HRK 11.2bn), and 1.98% (or HRK 1.85bn) MoM, and amounted to HRK 95.5bn.
Corporate and household loans growth rate (YoY, %)
In total, loans issued to households at the end of May amounted to HRK 145.1bn. The increase was primarily driven by the housing loans, which grew by HRK 6.1bn YoY (or 9.48%), and HRK 1.1bn (or 1.61%) MoM. Housing loans are also the largest segment of the household loans, at app. 48.4%, representing an increase of 1.9 p.p. YoY, and 0.31 p.p. MoM. On the other hand, the 2nd largest category of household loans, consumer loans (which account for 37.24% of the total household loans), increased by 0.28% (or HRK 149.8m) MoM, and HRK 1.42bn (or 2.7%) YoY.
Moving on, the 3rd largest category of household loans, other loans, increased by 0.23% MoM (or HRK 21.3m) and 1.06% YoY (or HRK 96.3m). In the 4th largest category of household loans, overdrafts on transaction accounts, we can see a growth of 1.36% (or HRK 88.6m) MoM, and 2.48% (or HRK 156.7m) YoY.
With the current inflationary pressures, the situation in Ukraine, and the expected increase of interest rates by the ECB , one would expect more cautiousness regarding the loans taken by the clients. But it seems that up until this point, there is an ever-increasing number of loans issued. This could mean that even though all of those challenges are present, the sentiment is still somewhat positive.
Composition of Croatian loans to households (HRKm)
