The Economic Survey noted that lending to the real estate, renting and business activities sector slowed down the pace of previous years but still saw an increase of 9.6 per cent. There was also subdued growth in lending to households for house purchases, although it too rose by 8.1 per cent.

Credit to the construction sector was up by 7.3 per cent, compared to the 6.8 per cent seen in the same period a year earlier.

Overall, loans to finance the domestic property market represented 58 per cent of all loans as at September 2008.

Total loans to private non-financial companies amounted to €6,379.2 million, up 8 per cent on December 2008.

Source: Economic Survey (in € million) - Loans by banks as at year end.