In the first quarter of 2021, the conditions for lending to households and corporates continued to be tightened, but with a slightly lower intensity compared to 2020, according to the results of a survey on bank lending for the first quarter of 2021 conducted by the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CBBH).
The published results show that with corporates there were no differences in the changes for long-term and short-term loans, and the main reasons for the tightened credit terms and conditions were the banks’ factors related to risk perception. At the same time, the results indicate a decrease in the demand for corporates loans, which is especially evident for long-term loans. In terms of demand for short-term loans, after a slight increase in the fourth quarter of 2020, in the first quarter of 2021 this trend was changed and lower demand was recorded.
In the case of household loans, the tightening of credit terms and conditions is noticeable, which is especially true for loans for real estate financing. The reasons are also closely related to the perception of increased risk by banks, while on the other hand, banks reported that the increased competition in the market forces them to ease credit conditions. Regarding the demand for credit by households, a very small decrease was recorded, which shows that demand in this segment is gradually normalizing after the unfavourable trend in 2020, and these banks suggest that demand will grow slightly in the second quarter of 2021.
