National Bank of Georgia: People borrow more, save less

People in Georgia are borrowing more money and saving less, says the National Bank of Georgia (NBG).

Latest bank figures show people in Georgia borrowed 16.4 billion GEL in June 2016 but deposited 14.3 billion GEL into local banks.

Current trends of bank deposits

In June 2016 the sum of deposits made in Georgia’s banking sector reached 14.3 billion GEL. This was a 6.3 percent increase, or 849.5 million GEL more month-on-month.

Also last month the sum of term deposits increased by 475.9 million GEL, while demand deposits increased by 373.6 million GEL, said NBG.

The larisation ratio constituted 32.75 percent in total non-bank deposits last month.

Meanwhile 82.6 percent of all foreign currency denominated deposits were in US dollar while 14.6 percent were in Euro, said the bank.

How much did banks lend in June?

Commercial banks in Georgia lent 16.4 billion GEL in June 2016 to borrowers, which was 1.2 billion GEL or 7.8 percent more compared to May 2016.

Statistics showed loans taken out in the Georgian national currency increased by 69.3 million GEL (1.2 percent) while the volume of loans in foreign currencies increased by 1.1 billion GEL (11.6 percent) in June.

By the end of June 2016, commercial banks issued 1.7 billion GEL worth of national currency-denominated loans (7.3 percent more compared to the previous month), and 5.9 billion GEL worth of foreign currency denominated loans (18.3 percent less) to resident legal entities.

There are 19 commercial banks in Georgia including 17 foreign-controlled banks and one branch of non-resident banks.