Bank of Greece notes rising demand for business loans

In its latest announcement the Bank of Greece asserts that the credit standards for loans to non-financial corporations (NFCs) remained unchanged, while the terms and conditions remained almost unchanged, in the second quarter of 2022. The overall demand for corporate loans increased.

At the same time, the credit standards as well as the terms and conditions for loans to households remained unchanged. The demand for consumer credit remained almost unchanged, while the demand for housing loans decreased.

Loans to non-financial corporations
In the second quarter of 2022, the credit standards for loans to non-financial corporations (NFCs) remained unchanged (see Chart 1) compared with the first quarter of 2022, in line with the expectations expressed in the previous quarterly survey round. Moreover, banks expect that credit standards will remain unchanged during the third quarter of 2022.

The overall terms and conditions for loans to NFCs remained almost unchanged compared with the first quarter of 2022, even though banks’ margin on average loans slightly decreased.

The overall demand for loans to NFCs, both for small/medium as well as large enterprises, increased (see Chart 2), due to financing needs for fixed investment and for increasing working capital. During the next quarter, the overall demand for loans to both small/medium and large corporations is expected to increase further.

In the second 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 second quarter of 2022, the credit standards as well as the terms and conditions for loans to households remained unchanged compared with the first quarter of 2022 (see Chart 1), in line with the expectations expressed in the previous quarterly survey round.

The demand for consumer credit remained almost unchanged (see Chart 2), while the demand for housing decreased, contrary to what expected from the previous survey round. The reduction in the demand for housing loans was due to the worsening of consumer confidence and to the general level of interest rates. During the next quarter, the overall demand for housing loans is expected to remain almost unchanged, while the demand for consumer credit is expected to increase somewhat.

Banks expect that, during the third quarter of 2022, credit standards for housing and consumer loans will remain almost unchanged.

The ratio of rejected applications for loans to households remained almost unchanged during the second quarter of 2022 (see Chart 3) compared with the previous quarter.

Chart 1 – Credit Standards (Average)