Lending to households and businesses declined again in October, according to the latest data from the Central Bank.
Loans to households fell at an annual rate minus 4.9 per cent last month, following an annual decline of 4.5 per cent in September.
The Central Bank said lending for house purchase was 1.6 per cent lower on an annual basis in October, while lending for consumption and other purposes fell by 16.3 per cent.
Loan repayments totalled €7 billion for the ten months to the end of October, compared €1.7 billion over the same period last year.
The data showed lending to businesses decreased by 5.2 per cent on an annual basis last month, following an annual decline of 3 per cent in September.
Irish domestic lenders increased their reliance on European Central Bank (ECB) funding by 3.3 per cent in October as they lost deposits and markets remained volatile, the figures showed.
The ECB funding reliance of domestic lenders, including Irish and foreign-owned retail banks, rose by €2.7 billion to €85.7 billion from September.