DEPOSITS AT the guaranteed Irish banks rose by €7 billion to €147 billion in the second half of last year following a fall of €15 billion in the first half, new figures released by the Department of Finance show.
Deposits declined by 10 per cent in the first six months ahead of the most recent recapitalisation of the banks in July, and rose 5 per cent in the last four months of the year.
Deposit levels remained flat between June and August.
There were €2.5 billion of net inflows in September, followed by inflows of €1.7 billion in October, €1.2 billion in November and €2 billion in December.
The biggest level of net outflows in 2011 was in June, when the figure was €4.9 billion.
Releasing the first in a series of monthly “consolidated” deposit figures at the guaranteed or “covered” banks, the department said it was publishing the data “in an effort to improve market transparency”.
The data concerns deposits at AIB (including EBS); Bank of Ireland; Permanent TSB; and Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, covering what was formerly Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide.
The department said the consolidated figures for deposits included deposits held in the foreign subsidiaries of the banks.
“We believe that this data represents the most accurate snapshot of the deposit picture at the covered banks,” said the department.
The Central Bank publishes unconsolidated aggregate figures for deposits at the guaranteed banks, but the department said these figures were inflated by intra-group deposits and did not include deposits in overseas subsidiaries.
Asked why the department was producing these new monthly deposit figures, a Central Bank spokesman said its money and banking statistics were collected under specific European Central Bank regulations.
They were used to inform monetary policy and economic analysis for domestic and European policymakers and “in contributing to the wider financial stability”, he said.
“We do provide various data and information to the Department of Finance, some of which they are free to use in a public way if they wish and we would be aware that they are doing so.”
