Bank Lending Survey (BLS) (1) ,(2) - Q4 2018

Loans to non-financial corporations

In the fourth quarter of 2018, the credit standards as well as the terms and conditions for loans to non-financial corporations (NFCs) remained unchanged (see Chart 1) compared with the third quarter of 2018, in line with expectations expressed in the previous quarterly survey round. Moreover, banks expect that credit standards will in general remain unchanged during the first quarter of 2019 as well.

The demand for loans to NFCs increased somewhat (see Chart 2), especially regarding long-term loans. The demand for loans to NFCs is expected to remain unchanged during the next quarterly survey round.

The share of rejected applications for loans to NFCs remained unchanged during the fourth quarter of 2018 (see Chart 3).

Loans to households

In the fourth quarter of 2018, the credit standards as well as the terms and conditions for loans to households remained unchanged compared with the third quarter of 2018 (see Chart 1), in line with expectations expressed in the previous survey round. The demand for loans to households increased considerably compared with the third quarter of 2018 (see Chart 2) and this was not in line with previous expectations. The demand for housing loans increased due to better prospects of the real estate market, while the demand for consumer loans increased because of improved consumer confidence and the need to finance purchases of consumer durables. Banks expect that credit standards and the demand for loans to households will remain unchanged during the first quarter of 2019.
The share of rejected applications for consumer loans remained broadly unchanged during the fourth quarter of 2018, whilst it increased somewhat for housing loans (see Chart 3).

Chart 1 - Credit Standards (Average)

Chart 2 - Demand (Average)

Chart 3 - Share of rejected applications (Average)

(1)For more information on the Bank Lending Survey, see
http://www.bankofgreece.gr/Pages/en/Statistics/monetary/BankLendingSurvey.aspx.
(2)Information regarding the BLS methodology is available at: http://www.bankofgreece.gr/Pages/en/Statistics/monetary/BankLendMeth.aspx.

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Bank of Greece published this content on 22 January 2019 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 22 January 2019 18:13:09 UTC