Credit expansion slows down

The annual growth rate of total credit extended to the domestic economy stood at 9.9% in January 2022, compared with 10.2% in the previous month, the Bank of Greece said on Friday.

It also said the annual growth rate of total deposits stood at 8.1%, compared with 8% in the previous month, and deposits placed by the private sector decreased by 2.232 billion euros in January 2022, compared with an increase of €4.26 billion in the previous month.

The central bank reported that the monthly net flow of total credit was positive by €1.52 billion last month, compared with a negative net flow of €1.5 billion in the previous month. In January, the monthly net flow of credit to the general government was positive by €2.8 billion, compared with a negative net flow of €3.416 billion in the previous month; the annual growth rate decreased to 32.7% from 33.4% in the previous month.

The annual growth rate of credit to the private sector decreased to 0.9% from 1.4% in the previous month.

The monthly net flow of credit was negative by €1.3 billion, compared with a positive net flow of €1.92 million in the previous month.