In February of this year, the debts of Czech households at banks increased by 6.3 billion crowns month-on-month to more than 2.259 trillion CZK. Corporate debt increased by 10.9 billion to 1.386 trillion crowns. In a year-on-year comparison, at the end of February the volume of loans to households was CZK 105.8 billion higher and to non-financial enterprises by CZK 128.4 billion. This follows from preliminary data published today by the Czech National Bank (ČNB).
Household debts at banks in the Czech Republic have been growing almost continuously since February 2016. The exception was April 2022, when they decreased month-on-month, which, according to the CNB, influenced the withdrawal of the banking license of the Czech branch of the Russian Sberbank. Last April’s statistics, when the volume of household loans increased by about 31 billion month-on-month, were, on the contrary, influenced by the purchase of the loan portfolio of Sberbank CZ. According to the earlier statement of the bank’s insolvency administrator, Jiřina Lužová, its loan clients switched to Česká spořitelna.
The vast majority of the total amount of household debt is made up of housing loans. At the end of February, they amounted to CZK 1.749 trillion, i.e. roughly four fifths of all household debts. In February, the volume of housing loans increased by 0.2 percent month-on-month.
In the past, the volume of corporate debt fluctuated rather. Since last March, when it amounted to 1.265 trillion crowns, but steadily grew until November, when corporate indebtedness decreased month-on-month. The majority of companies’ debts consist of long-term loans. Their volume at the end of the second calendar month of this year reached CZK 755 billion, which represents 55 percent of the total volume of loans granted to this sector.
The central bank publishes statistics every month. This February, banking statistics in the Czech Republic were compiled from source data of 46 actively operating banks and branches of foreign banks, excluding the CNB.
