The new loans released last month amounted to 3.718.4 billion lei, a decrease of 32.1% compared to December 2023. The loans in national currency represented 73.1% of the released loans, totaling 2.718.1 billion lei, IPN reports.

The National Bank of Moldova said that the loans repayable in two to five years were the most popular loans and constituted 56.2% of all the loans. The volume of these loans provided to legal entities represented 38.5% of all the loans.

The average nominal interest rate on new loans in national currency decreased by 0.25 percentage points compared to the previous month to 9.97 percent. The average rate on loans in foreign currency declined by 0.21 percentage points to 6.59 percent.

Individuals raised loans to the value of 1.079.3 billion lei in January, down 14.1% on the previous month. Some 66.9% of these loans were granted for consumption. Most of these loans (624.1 million lei) were released in national currency for terms of two to five years.

Real estate loans represented 32.7% of all the loans granted to individuals and were fully taken out in national currency.

The average interest rate on consumer loans granted in national currency decreased by 0.11 percentage points to 12.01 percent, while the average interest rate on loans granted for purchasing real estate decreased by 0.12 percentage points to 8.60 percent.

Compared to the previous month, legal entities requested fewer loans in national currency last month (-42.1%). The volume of foreign currency loans decreased by 27.7 percent, while those linked to the foreign currency decreased by 47.8 percent.

According to the NBM, 67.6% of the new loans released in January were raised by nonfinancial commercial companies.

The average interest rate on loans granted to legal entities in national currency diminished by 0.54 percentage points to 9.26%, while the average interest rate on loans in foreign currency decreased by 0.20 percentage points to 6.59%.