Borrowing costs rose in February, the Bank of Greece announced on
Monday, with commercial banks raising interest rates in all categories of lending, with the exception of mortgage loans, which remained unchanged.
Monday, with commercial banks raising interest rates in all categories of lending, with the exception of mortgage loans, which remained unchanged.
The central bank, in a report, said that in February the average interest rates on outstanding amounts of deposits and loans increased with the exception of rates on housing loans that remained unchanged. 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 two years increased in February 2011 by five and eight basis points to 3.55 percent and 3.69 percent respectively. The average interest rate on outstanding amounts of housing loans with over five years’ maturity remained unchanged at 3.68 percent, while the corresponding rates on corporate loans and loans to sole proprietors increased by four basis points to 4.66 percent and 5.71 percent respectively.
In February, the average interest rates on overnight deposits from households and non-financial institutions remained unchanged at 0.44 percent and 0.34 percent respectively. Similarly, the average interest rate on deposits from households with an agreed maturity of up to one year remained at 3.75 percent.
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 five basis points to 14.64 percent. Similarly, both the average interest rate on corporate loans without a defined maturity and the corresponding rate on loans to sole proprietors increased by nine and 14 basis points to 6.90 percent and 9.72 percent 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 nine basis points to 6.23 percent for loans up to EUR one million, and by 48 basis points to 5.37 percent for loans above EUR one million.
On the other hand, the average interest rates on housing loans decreased by two basis points to 3.91 percent for loans at a floating rate or with an initial rate fixation period of up to one year and by seven basis points to 3.57 percent for loans with an initial fixation period of over one and up to five years.
source: ANA
