Decline in lending to firms continues

Lending to businesses continued to decline last month and at a faster pace than  previously, according to data from the Central Bank.

Credit to non-financial corporations fell 4.6 per cent on an annual basis in the year to March, according to the statistics. This compares to annual declines of 3 per cent in January and 3.6 per cent in February.

All national and international credit institutions with operations in the State, apart from credit unions, are included in the statistics.

The figures for March – which take account of the first transfers to Nama which took place during the month- show that the amount of credit outstanding to businesses, excluding banks, on the balance sheets of Irish financial institutions stood at €139.5 billion at end-March 2010. This compares to €141.3 billion at end-February.

According to the Central Bank, the decline is due to the fact that repayments were greater than draw-downs. The remainder of the decline in outstanding amounts was due to the transfer of loans to Nama, write-downs and other "technical factors" the bank said.

Lending to households – which includes residential mortgages and credit card debt – also continued to decline in March. Residential mortgages declined by €717 million during the month, and stood at €146.5 billion at end-March 2010.

In terms of consumer credit, repayments on personal credit cards were approximately €71 million higher than new spending on credit cards during the month. The year-on-year change in personal credit card indebtedness remained positive in March at 0.5 per cent.