Mortgage rates fell to 3.3 per cent in September
The total value of loans to businesses and households rose by 1.8% compared with a year earlier.
Key points
In September, the average interest rate on new business loans fell to 3.33% from 3.38% the previous month and 5.45% in December 2023. This was reported by the Italian Banking Association (ABI) in its bulletin. The average rate on new home purchase loans fell to 3.25% (3.28% in the previous month; 4.42% in December 2023). The average rate on total loans (i.e. those taken out over the years) stands at 3.92% (unchanged from the previous month).
According to the ABI bulletin, in September the total value of loans to businesses and households rose by 1.8% compared with a year earlier, an acceleration from the 1.6% growth recorded the previous month. In August, loans to households had risen by 2.0% and those to businesses by 1.2%. For households, this marks the ninth consecutive month of growth, whilst for businesses it is the third consecutive month in which lending has increased.
Interest rates
The rate applied to new fixed-term deposits (i.e. certificates of deposit and term deposits) in September stood at 1.97%. In August, this rate in Italia was higher than the euro area average (Italia 2.00%; euro area 1.84%). Compared with June 2022 (the last month before the ECB rate hikes), when the rate stood at 0.29%, the increase was 168 basis points. The yield on new issues of fixed-rate bank bonds in September was 2.50%, an increase of 119 basis points compared with June 2022, when it stood at 1.31%. In September, the average rate on total deposits (certificates of deposit, savings deposits and current accounts) was 0.63% (unchanged from the previous month; 0.32% in June 2022). The rate on current accounts, which are not intended for investment purposes and allow access to a wide range of services, stood at 0.27% in September (unchanged from the previous month; 0.02% in June 2022).
