May 10 (SeeNews) - Loans granted by banks in Montenegro totalled 4.172 billion euro ($4.477 billion) at the end of January, up 12% year-on-year, the country's central bank said.
On a monthly comparison basis, loans increased by 1.9% in January, the central bank, CBCG, said in its monthly report on Thursday.
Out of total loans, 3.36 billion was granted to Montenegrin residents, while the remaining 811 million was loaned to foreigners, the statement read.
Loans disbursed to the non-financial sector and the retail sector accounted for the main share of 72% in bank loan receivables at end-January.
State-owned entities owed 309 million euro in loans to banks at the end of January, up 22% year-on-year, while private companies owed 1.3 billion euro, an increase of 2.6% on an annual comparison basis.
Household loans were 9.1% higher year-on-year at the end of January, totalling 1.7 billion euro.
The loan-to-deposit ratio rose to 0.77 at the end of the first month of the current year, from 0.72 at end-January 2023 and from 0.75 at the end of 2023.
In 2023, Montenegrin banks' loan portfolio increased by 12%, according to CBCG data.
($ = 0.932 euro)