Banks, Estonia, Financial Services, Loan

At the same time, the central bank noted that the total volume of overdue loans that takes into account shorter payment problems as well, fell in March – for individuals as well as for enterprises. Problems in servicing loans are the biggest for companies in the construction and real estate sector where approximately 8% of the portfolio could be considered problematic.

Among housing loans, the share of loans that are more than 60 days overdue reaches 3% of the portfolio.

The balance of loans and leasing contracts issued to enterprises and individuals in Estonia fell by 1.7% or by 0.6% in March. Most of the decline in the loans and leasing portfolio was due to fewer loans taken by enterprises where the decline in turn was the biggest in the trade sector.

The total volume of deposits owned by Estonian enterprises and individuals grew by 1.4 billion kroons or by 1.3% in March. The relatively solid growth was due to the increase in deposits of enterprises which compensated for the slight decline in the volume of individuals' deposits. The year-on-year growth in deposits grew to 2.4% by end of March.

According to the Bank of Estonia, the commercial banks operating in Estonia earned a loss of 444 million kroons in the first quarter of the year. The banks' quarterly results were mostly affected by the write-offs on loans in the total volume of 1.5 billion kroons, forming 0.6% of the loans portfolio.