Interest and growth in commercial loans also fell

Sebnem TURHAN

Despite the low policy rate policy, macroprudential measures and selective credit policy cause the commercial loan growth to lose momentum in the banking sector. Securities obligation imposed on banks for commercial loan growth, interest For the first time after the week of November 22, 2021, that is, after the week of November 22, 2021, that is, after 11.5 months, applications such as the limit and the place of use of the loan reduced the growth rate of commercial loans to single digits, excluding corporate credit cards, adjusted for 13-week annualized exchange rate effect. After about a year, the growth rate in commercial loan interests declined only in private banks, while double-digit growth continued in public banks despite the loss of momentum.

Banking sector sources stated that while commercial loan rates declined, there were difficulties in accessing credit, and monetary tightening was achieved by lowering the policy rate. However, sources also pointed out that an increase in loans is likely with a loosening in macroprudential measures towards the election.

Total loan growth 17.62 percent

In the banking sector, as of the week of September 9, commercial loan growth decreased to a single digit with 13-week annualized and adjusted for exchange rate effects with 8.67 percent, while it decreased to 27.87 percent in public banks and 17.62 percent in total. Excluding corporate credit cards, which rose to 65.93 percent in private banks at the end of April this year, the 13-week annualized exchange rate adjusted commercial loan growth in the sector was at 56.14 percent in the same week. In public banks, on the other hand, there was a 46.26 percent commercial loan growth compared to the 65.93 percent growth rate in private banks. While the rapid growth in commercial loans attracted the attention of the Central Bank and the economy administration, the first measures came from the Central Bank. of commercial loans foreign currency Macroprudential measures started to be put into effect with the thought that it is directed towards undesirable areas, especially in the region.

The first step is the reserve requirement for a commercial loan.

On April 23, the Central Bank introduced a required reserve requirement for commercial loans. As of April 1, in addition to the decision to establish required reserves at the rate of 10 percent of commercial loans extended in four-week periods, banks with a loan growth rate above 20 percent have been obliged to maintain a required reserve of 20 percent over the year-end balance for 6 months.

At the beginning of June, the new macroprudential measures package was put into use, and the required reserve requirement for commercial loans was increased to 20 percent. Following these steps, commercial loan growth decreased to 29.99 percent in private banks at the beginning of July, while total commercial loan growth decreased to 36.41 percent. Public banks, on the other hand, experienced a more moderate loss of momentum despite the sharp decline in private banks, and the commercial loan growth rate was 43.72 percent at the beginning of July.

Loan growth slows since April

Finally, required reserves for commercial loans evolved into a 30 percent requirement to hold securities. Then, the requirement to hold additional securities for commercial loan interest and growth rate was introduced. In addition, banks with commercial loan interest rates exceeding 21.48 percent decided to acquire additional bonds at the rate of 20 percent, and if it exceeds 27.61 percent, at the rate of 90 percent. In addition, banks whose loan growth exceeded 10 percent from July 29 to the end of the year were obliged to hold securities equal to the excess amount for 1 year. activated after the discount. Thus, from the end of April to the week of September 9, commercial loan growth decreased by 38.5 points, while private banks decreased by 57.3 points.

Commercial loan interest decreased to 21.02 percent

The Central Bank’s measures led to a fluctuating course in commercial loan rates. While the policies implemented before the interest rate cut in the July MPC were interpreted as a monetary tightening with macroprudential measures, the policy rate cut was confusing. As a matter of fact, commercial loan rates excluding corporate credit cards and overdraft accounts, which were at the level of 21.81 percent in the last week of April, rose to 31.33 percent in the week of July 22 with the implementation of the measures. At that stage, the Central Bank and the real sector economy The management was criticized for the difficulty of accessing credit. After that, Central Bank Governor Şahap Kavcıoğlu said in his Inflation Report presentation that they would converge commercial loan rates and policy rates. The market, which thought that this would be done with macroprudential measures, was not mistaken and after the August MPC, a kind of limit was brought to the commercial loan interest with the condition of establishing additional securities. Thus, commercial loan rates also started to decline and fell to 21.02 percent as of the week of September 9, the lowest level since the week of April 22.

Foreign currency commercial loan volume declines

According to the weekly data of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, the volume of commercial loans in TL increased to 2 trillion 934 billion 48 million liras as of September 9. This indicates an increase of 34.9 billion liras per week. Foreign currency commercial loan volume decreased to 136 billion 737 million dollars, which was 156 billion 648 million dollars at the beginning of this year. dollar was level. Since the second week of August, the volume of commercial loans denominated in foreign currencies has continued to decline uninterruptedly. Previously, it had regressed continuously from the beginning of June until the week of August 12. Analyzing the 13-week changes, it was noted that commercial loans in TL increased by 364 billion TL, while commercial loans in foreign currency decreased by 12 billion dollars.

Housing loan interest rates hit 41-month high

Except for the BRSA’s shortening of maturity, no important macroprudential measures were introduced for consumer loans. However, there is a slowdown in the 13-week growth rate of consumer loans. The growth rate, which increased to 67.13 percent especially at the beginning of July, decreased to 29.22 percent as of the week of September 9, the lowest growth rate since the end of April. While consumer loan interests decreased from 33.47 percent to 32.41 percent in the week of September 9, interest rates on housing and vehicle loans increased in the week of September 9 compared to the week of September 2. In particular, the housing loan interest rate rose to 19.72 percent, reaching the highest level since July 26, 2019. Vehicle loan rates also rose to 27.32 percent from 27 percent in the week of September 2.