Irish lending continues to decline

Loans to Irish households fell again in October as deposits continued to flow back into the Irish banking system.

The latest tranche of Central Bank figures showed lending to households declined by €514 million last month, following a monthly decrease of €88 million in September.

However, the rate of decline remained unchanged in October at 3.7 per cent, the same rate recorded in September and August.

The monthly figures showed private sector deposits rose at an annual rate of 2.4 per cent in October, up from the 1.8 per cent recorded in September.

Deposits from households were 0.4 per cent higher on an annual basis at the end of October.

The figures indicated the reliance of Irish commercial banks on European Central Bank funding rose to €72.1 billion in October. The figure compares with €70.4 billion at the end of September, the bank said.

The banks dependence on Government-guaranteed bonds to generate collateral for ECB funding increased to €8 billion in October.