Total loans of commercial banks at the end of March amounted to HRK 270.2 billion, seeing an increase on the month for eight months in a row, this time of 2.6%, while the increase on the year was 6.7%, an analysis by Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) has shown.

Broken down by currencies, kuna-denominated loans rose by more than HRK 16 billion (15.9%), while loans with a currency clause saw a mild growth of HRK 152.9 million (0.1%), which was a rebound after an 11-month declining streak.

“With a few months of exceptions, the visible trend of growth in kuna loans and decline in foreign currency loans has been present for a little over seven years. The share of foreign currency loans in total loans has been steadily declining since the second half of 2012, when it was 74.4%. In March 2020, foreign currency loans accounted for only 54.7% of total loans,” RBA analysts said in their review of the latest data from the Croatian National Bank (HNB).

(€1 = HRK 7.574639)