This was stated by the head of the National Bank of Ukraine, Andriy Pyshny, as reported by RBK-Ukraine referencing his post on Facebook. This information is also reported by Kontrakty.UA.
"There is no talk of over-indebtedness! Businesses maintain a moderate debt load close to pre-war levels, and the ratio of retail loans from banks and non-bank financial institutions to annual household income is only 10%," he wrote.
According to him, increased competition has encouraged banks to improve loan conditions, particularly by reducing interest rates on business loans to an average of 15% per annum, similar to pre-COVID levels, and significantly enhancing consumer loan terms.
"As a result, the two leading banks in this segment (consumer lending, - ed.) have even slightly ceded market share to other private players," Pyshny reported.
Loan Rates
It is worth noting that in November 2024, according to the NBU, the average interest rates on new loans from banks to individuals in the national currency were 33.8% per annum. A month prior, the rates were at 34.0%.
At the same time, banks reduced interest rates on loans for enterprises in hryvnias from 15.4% to 14.4% per annum.
Overall, the total debt for loans to individuals amounted to 218 billion hryvnias.
The largest loan portfolios for individuals as of December 1, 2024, were held by PrivatBank - 79 billion hryvnias, and Universal Bank (monobank) - 39 billion hryvnias.