Skopje, 24 November 2004

Press release of the NBRM

The continuous broadening of the banks’ deposit base, reduced price of credits, diversified supply of credits, as well as the increased demand for credits led to an intensive growth of the banks’ placements to the private sector during 2004. Thus the banks provided an additional source of financing of the activity of the corporate sector, and at the same time they significantly support the purchasing power of the households sector.

According to the official data, the total banks’ placements to the non-government sector in October 2004, compared to the same month of the previous year are higher by Denar 11,373 million or by 23.4%, and reached Denar 60,028 million at the end of the month. An intensive growth was registered in both the Denar and the foreign currency placements. Thus banks’ Denar placements increased by 21.7%, while the annual growth of the placements in foreign currency equaled 33.7%.  The intensive lending in foreign currency is partially due to the liberalization of the foreign currency lending, i.e. the possibility to extend foreign currency credits to all interested entities.

Positive movements were registered in the maturity structure of the placements. In circumstances when the annual growth of long-term placements (46.8%) is faster compared to that of the short-term placements (10.8%), the share of the long-term placements in the total placements equals 45.7%, which is an increase of significant 6.8 percentage points.

From the aspect of the sectors, in 2004 a significant orientation of the banks towards lending to the households sector was registered. Thus the annual growth rate of the total placements to the households sector in October 2004, equaled 61.4%, with an increase being registered in all categories of placements to the households from the aspect of the maturity and currency structure. In October 2004, the placements to the corporate sector were higher by 15.8% on annual basis.

The growing trend of the banks’ placements to the non-government sector is expected to continue in the last two months of 2004, when the share of the total placements in the projected gross domestic product is expected to reach 21.4%, which represents an increase of 3.5 percentage points compared to the previous year. The realized growth of the banks’ credit activity in the January - October 2004 period, and the realization of the projected growth for the last two months of 2004, will represent the highest annual growth since the independence, excluding year 1996. 

Governor’s Office