The Estonian Financial Supervision Authority (FSA) has said the most difficult time for banks during the coronavirus crisis has passed and at the end of the second quarter requests for loan holidays ceased.
In the second quarter, the loan stock of the banking sector decreased by 0.7% YoY, to EUR 27.5 billion. In the previous quarter, the loan balance grew by 0.9%.
In its sector review, the authority noted that as of the end of June, the most difficult period for banks caused by the crisis had passed and the request for payment leave had ceased.
Compared to the first quarter, the loan balance of the Estonian banking sector decreased by 0.8%. The decrease in the volume of the loan portfolio is mainly due to the decrease in the volume of corporate loans.
The volume of loans issued to non-financial corporations decreased by 2.3% YoY in the second quarter. The loan volume of private sector enterprises decreased by 2.7% and the loan volume of state-owned enterprises increased by 3.4%.
Loans granted to financial corporations decreased by 11% in the second quarter. The effects of the coronavirus crisis on lending can be seen when compared with the previous quarter – the loan balance of both financial and non-financial corporations decreased by 2.1% during the quarter, to EUR 3.3 and EUR 9.7 billion, respectively. (ERR/Business World Magazine)