Commercial banks set a new record regarding the volume of amounts loaned in December 2006 – 2.22 bln lei, compared to 1.7 bln lei in November 2006. The volume registered in December is the largest in 2006, based on data from the National Bank of Moldova (NBM). Credits in Moldovan Lei in the amount of 1.3 mln lei have been offered in December 2006, which is a 192.8 mln lei increase (17.3%) on the previous month. The loans given to legal entities, of the total volume of credits offered in national currency, constituted 75.4%. In December, the average interest rate of the credits given in national currency rose by 0.25 percentage points, up to 18.59%. The boost was due to the 0.32 percentage points increase in the average interest rate of the credits given to legal entities, up to 18.46%. As regards the volume of credits offered in foreign currency, NBM date indicates the sum of 917.1 mln lei, of which 913.3 mln lei went to legal entities. The equivalent in US Dollars of the loans given to legal entities makes up USD 69.8 mln, by USD 23.7 mln more than registered in November 2006. The average interest rate of the credits in foreign currency offered to legal entities dropped by 0.26 percentage points, making up 10.93% in December 2006.