Company bank savings hit new record of €58.8B in August

Deposits by companies in resident banks increased 16.3% in August compared to the same month in 2020, reaching a new historic high of €58.8 billion, the Bank of Portugal (BoP) said on Monday.

“Concerning deposits by individuals in resident banks, which in July had reached a record €169.9 billion, grew by 7.1% in August, year-on-year, adding €169.3 billion (they had increased by 6.6% in the previous month).”

According to the BoP, “since March 2020, households have increased their deposits with banks”, with this growth “a trend and values close to those of the euro area”.

Regarding the total amount of loans granted to households for housing, it grew by 4% year-on-year to €95.6 billion, after increasing by 3.9% in the previous month.

Consumer loans grew by 1.3% year-on-year to €19 billion in August 2020 (they had increased by 1.6% in the previous month).

Regarding companies, the total amount of loans granted in August 2021 grew by 5.2% year-on-year to €76.2 billion, decelerating slightly from the 5.9% increase in the previous month.

“Contrary to the evolution seen in 2020 and early 2021, largely related to the impact of the lines of support for the economy granted in the context of the pandemic, the pace of growth in loans to companies has once again slowed for the fourth consecutive month,” says the central bank.

“Still – it adds – loans to businesses have been increasing at a faster pace than observed in the euro area.”

In August, the reduction in the pace of growth of loans to businesses “was across all size classes”.