Private sector credit growth breached 30 per cent for the first time in more than six years in June as lending showed no signs of easing despite higher euro zone interest rates and Central Bank warnings.
The Central Bank, which has warned repeatedly of the risks associated with soaring lending, said today that private sector credit rose at an adjusted annual rate of 30.3 per cent in June from 29.8 per cent in May.
It is the first time the rate has gone over the 30 per cent mark since March 2000, the bank said.
Private sector credit - growing at around three times the euro zone average - has increased by a monthly average of €5 billion during the first six months of 2006, and rose by €5.8 billion in June.
This brings total outstanding private sector credit (PSC) to €288.6 billion, the bank said.
"The June rise would have been even larger had it not been for a two billion euro increase in securitised residential mortgages, which are excluded from total PSC," it added.
Including securitised residential mortgages, the annual growth rate for PSC would have been 31.4 per cent in June.
"For the second month in a row, non-mortgage credit increased at a faster annual adjusted growth rate than mortgage credit, rising to 32.6 per cent in June, from 29.7 per cent in May," the bank said.