The share of loans denominated in the domestic currency, the kuna, remained at 54.4%, totalling HRK 73.1 billion. Their annual growth rate was 7.0%, slowing down from 8.2% in April.
This was the second month in a row to see a single-digit rise in the annual growth rate of such loans, after this rate had been in double-digit territory for years, Raiffeisen Bank (RBA) noted in its comment on the HNB data.
Foreign currency-indexed loans totalled HRK 61.2 billion in May, up by 1.0% over April. Most of these loans were pegged to the euro, their increase being driven by the appreciation of the euro against the kuna of 2.2% compared with May 2019.
Housing loans accounted for 43.9% of household loans, reaching HRK 58.9 billion, with an annual growth rate of 7.5%. These loans have been on the rise since November 2017. General-purpose cash loans rose by 4.6% to HRK 2.3 billion, accounting for 30.0%.
RBA analysts expect the demand for credit to fall in the coming months given that optimism has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic crisis, a deterioration on the labour market and a growing aversion to risk.
(€1 = HRK 7.508619)