Total placements of monetary institutions to domestic sectors, excluding the central government, reached 260 billion kuna (€34.5 billion) in September, or 10.7 percent up year-on-year, the central bank HNB said on Monday.

The rise was driven by loans to non-financial companies, which increased to 101.6 billion kuna (€13.5 billion), or 21.4 percent year-on-year. As in the previous few months, the largest share of new loans went to businesses in the energy sector.

“Specifically, the surge in energy prices has raised their need for working capital, increasing the demand for loans. The growth in corporate loans picked up, from 17.2 percent year-on-year in August to 21.4 percent in September,” HNB said.

Loans to the households grew in September to 148.3 billion kuna (€19.7 billion), or 5.5 percent up year-on-year. Housing loans continued to grow, to 73.3 billion kuna (€9.7 billion), or 9.4 percent year-on-year, whereas general-purpose cash loans decreased slightly to 54.2 billion kuna (€7.2 billion), still 3.1 percent up year-on-year.

Total deposits reached 408 billion kuna (€54.2 billion) in September, up 12.3 percent year-on-year, based on transactions, with household deposits increasing by 9.5 percent to 22.8 billion kuna (€3 billion).

(€1 = 7.53 kuna)