Statement from the NBS Bank Board’s 18th meeting of 2019
The Bank Board of Národná banka Slovenska today (24 September) held its 18th meeting of 2019, chaired by NBS Governor Peter Kažimír.
The Bank Board took note of NBS’s September 2019 Monthly Bulletin, which will be published on the NBS website.
The Bank Board took note of NBS’s September 2019 Medium-Term Forecast (MTF-2019Q3) and approved the Opinion of the Bank Board on MTF-2019Q3. Both documents will be presented at a press conference and published on the NBS website.
The Bank Board discussed and approved the Financial Market Situation and Trend Report for the First Half of 2019.
In terms of asset growth, the Slovak financial sector performed favourably in the first half of 2019. The banking sector, which is the most significant segment of the financial sector, maintained its levels of profitability and solvency.
From the perspective of the stability of the domestic financial sector, the most important factor is the household credit market. The annual growth rate for loans to households slowed to 8.5% in June 2019, its lowest ever level. At the same time, this rate was still higher than what economic fundamental would imply and remained the second highest rate in the European Union.
The annual growth rate for total housing loans fell below 10% for the first time. Their continuing growth is driven mainly by the favourable labour market situation and exceptionally low interest rates. The slowdown in that growth was accounted for by the tightening of NBS regulatory lending standards, by interest rate stagnation in the first half of 2019, and by the increasing saturation of the credit market. The year-on-year growth in total consumer loans slowed even more markedly, from almost 10% in June 2018 to 2% in June 2019.
Jana Kováčová
Head of the NBS Communications Section
The NBS Bank Board approved the Slovak version of the statement; the English version is for information purposes only.
National Bank of Slovakia
Communications Section
Imricha Karvasa 1, 813 25 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
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