Loans in Ukraine increase by 1.4% in Feb, deposits up by 0.4% – National Bank
In February, the volume of loans increased by 1.4% (UAH 15.9 billion) to UAH 1.121 trillion, while deposits grew by 0.4% (UAH 9.9 billion) to UAH 2.734 trillion, according to data published on the National Bank of Ukraine's (NBU) website.
The main driver of loan growth was the corporate sector, which saw a 1.8% increase (UAH 14.3 billion) to UAH 827 billion.
Hryvnia-denominated corporate loans rose by 2.7% (UAH 15.3 billion) to UAH 585.6 billion.
Foreign currency corporate loans increased by just 0.3% ($0.02 billion) to $5.83 billion, though due to the strengthening of the hryvnia, their value in national currency slightly decreased.
Meanwhile, household lending grew by 0.8% (UAH 2.3 billion) to UAH 282.0 billion.
Regarding deposits: household deposits rose by 1.4% (UAH 16.6 billion) to UAH 1.229 trillion, hryvnia-denominated deposits grew by 2.3% (UAH 18.2 billion) to UAH 810.8 billion, and foreign currency deposits increased by just 0.4% ($0.04 billion) to $10.08 billion.
Corporate deposits declined by 0.1% (UAH 2.2 billion) to UAH 1.456 trillion, mainly due to a 5.4% decrease in foreign currency holdings ($0.55 billion) to $9.70 billion, while hryvnia-denominated corporate deposits grew by 2.3% (UAH 23.8 billion) to UAH 1.053 trillion.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Tax, and Customs Policy, Danylo Hetmantsev, attributed these trends to the conversion of corporate foreign currency deposits.
"The key reason is the ongoing structural liquidity surplus in the banking sector, largely driven by the significant budget deficit, most of which is covered by international aid. These funds are exchanged from government foreign currency accounts and circulate within the banking system. As a result, after a seasonal decline in January, hryvnia deposit inflows rebounded as expected," he explained on his Telegram channel.