Corporate lending in Ukraine grows 22% over past year – NBU

Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Sergiy Nikolaychuk said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

“Banks are actively providing loans, particularly hryvnia loans to corporate sector. Over the past 12 months, the net hryvnia corporate loan portfolio grew by almost 22% in October, which is higher than the nominal growth rate of the economy. This is a good indicator," stated Nikolaychuk.

According to him, three key factors contributed to this increase in lending: the recovery of economic activity in the country, the gradual easing of monetary policy and the implementation of the Lending Development Strategy.

"This strategy contains both short-term initiatives aimed at stimulating lending in priority areas and long-term measures designed to create a favorable environment for lending development," he stated.

Nikolaychuk said that lending to ensure the resilience of businesses and households amid the destruction of energy facilities is a prime example.

“According to the latest information, the volume of loans approved by the ‘energy’ consortium of 20 banks that have joined this project has already exceeded UAH 10 billion,” he said.

The NBU Deputy Governor also reported positive dynamics in reducing the level of non-performing loans.

“We have good results: this year, the NPL ratio decreased from 37% at the beginning of the year to 32% in October. This is due to both an increase in the volume of performing loans and the gradual success of banks in dealing with non-performing loans in their portfolios,” Nikolaychuk added.

As reported by Ukrinform, the National Bank of Ukraine projects that Ukraine’s international reserves will exceed $40 billion before the end of 2024.