In April 2022, total loans of Croatian financial institutions amounted to HRK 292.3bn, an increase of 6.6% YoY, and 2.6% MoM.

The Croatian National Bank (HNB) has published its monthly report on the development of the Croatian financial institutions. According to the report, as of the end of April 2022, the total loans of all financial institutions equaled HRK 292.3bn, an increase of 6.6% YoY, and 2.6% MoM.

Household loans which represent the largest segment, grew by 4.5% (or HRK 6.13bn) YoY, 0.4% (or HRK 523m) MoM. Meanwhile, corporate loans grew by 8.5% YoY, 2.0% MoM, and amounted to HRK 93.7bn.

Corporate and Household Loans Growth Rate (YoY, %)

In total, loans issued to households amounted to HRK 143.7bn. The increase was primarily driven by the increase in housing loans, which grew by HRK 5.25bn (or 8.2%) YoY, and HRK 163m (or 0.2%) MoM. Housing loans also constitute the largest segment of the household loans, at 48%, roughly the same as the month before, but an increase of 1.67 p.p. YoY. At the same time, the 2nd largest category of household loans, the consumer loans (accounting for 37.5% of total household loans), grew by 2.6% (or HRK 1.3bn) YoY, and 0.31% (or HRK 167.1m) MoM.

Meanwhile, the household loan growth was offset by the lower result of credit card loans, which decreased by HRK 710.2 (or -20.6%) YoY but experienced a slight increase of HRK 15.7m (or 0.58%) MoM. The 3rd largest category of household loans, other loans, experienced an increase of HRK 82.3m (or 0.91%) YoY while increasing by HRK 128.6(or 1.43%) MoM. Lastly, the 4th largest category of household loans, overdrafts on transaction accounts, increased by HRK 106.2(or 1.7% YoY) and grew by HRK 49.2m (or 0.8%) MoM.

Even though we have a still-present geopolitical situation, a negative month-to-month decline regarding issued loans reversed. Virtually all segments reported a MoM growth. As stated above, household loans, as the largest segment, representing 58% of all issued loans, increased by 0.4% MoM. To further amplify growth in issued loans, corporate loans grew by as much as 2% MoM, representing a positive current sentiment in monetary institutions.

Composition of Croatian loans to households (HRKm)