The granting of a large business loan in February at a low interest rate was instrumental in reducing the interest rate spread between new deposits and loans in that month, as banks kept deposit rates unchanged.

In February 2024, the weighted average interest rate on new deposits remained unchanged at 0.53%, while the corresponding rate on loans decreased to 5.77%.

- The interest rate spread between new deposits and loans decreased to 5.24 percentage points.

- In February 2024, the weighted average interest rate on outstanding amounts of deposits remained unchanged at 0.54%, while the corresponding rate on loans remained almost unchanged at 6.34%.

- The interest rate spread between outstanding amounts of deposits and loans remained almost unchanged at 5.80 percentage points.

NEW DEPOSITS

The weighted average interest rate on new deposits remained unchanged at 0.53%, compared to the previous month. In particular, the average interest rate on overnight deposits placed by households remained unchanged at 0.03%, while the corresponding rate on deposits by non-financial corporations remained almost unchanged at 0.19%. The average interest rates on deposits from households and non-financial corporations with an agreed maturity of up to 1 year remained unchanged at 1.80% and 3.20% respectively.

NEW LOANS

The weighted average interest rate on new loans to households and non-financial corporations decreased by 38 basis points to 5.77% due to the granting of a fixed rate corporate loan with a relatively low interest rate.

More specifically, the average interest rate on consumer loans without a defined maturity (a category that comprises credit cards, revolving loans and overdrafts) increased by 4 basis points to 15.04%. T

he average interest rate on consumer loans with a defined maturity at a floating rate decreased by 181 basis points to 10.27%, while the average interest rate on housing loans at a floating rate remained almost unchanged at 5.48%.

The average interest rate on corporate loans without a defined maturity decreased by 4 basis points to 6.76%, while the corresponding rate on loans to sole proprietors remained almost unchanged at 7.71%.

The average interest rate on new corporate loans with a defined maturity at a floating rate increased by 4 basis points to 5.91%.

The average interest rate on loans with a defined maturity at a floating rate to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) decreased by 20 basis points to 5.85%.

As regards the structure of interest rates according to the size of loans granted, the average rate on loans of up to €250,000 increased by 24 basis points to 5.64%, on loans of over €250,000 and up to €1 million it increased by 11 basis points to 6.20%, while on loans of over €1 million remained unchanged at 5.88%.

DEPOSITS

The weighted average interest rate on outstanding amounts of deposits (including overnight deposits) remained unchanged at 0.54% compared to the previous month.

In particular, the average interest rate on outstanding amounts of deposits with an agreed maturity of up to 2 years placed by households increased by 4 basis points to 1.76%.

The corresponding rate on deposits placed by non-financial corporations stood at 2.99% compared with 3.02% in the previous month.

LOANS

The weighted average interest rate on outstanding amounts of loans remained almost unchanged at 6.34%.

In particular, the average interest rate on outstanding amounts of housing loans with over 5 years’ maturity remained unchanged at 4.40%. The corresponding rate on consumer and other loans to individuals and private non-profit institutions remained also unchanged at 8.25%.

The average interest rate on corporate loans with over 5 years’ maturity remained almost unchanged at 6.30%. The corresponding rate on loans to sole proprietors decreased by 8 basis points to 6.96%.