Demand for housing loans soars 41.5% y/y in January

Demand for housing loans in the Polish banking sector grew by 41.5 percent year-on-year in January, while demand for consumer loans increased only marginally, by 0.7 percent y/y, Poland's credit information bureau BIK estimated. The strong increase of demand for housing loans was related to the housing support scheme MdM as clients rushed to file their motion in the hope to qualify for the program, BIK officials explained. Consumer loans grew by 2.3 percent to a record-high PLN 78.5 billion, while housing loans were up by 0.4 percent (PLN 41.3 billion). BIK also forecasts that in 2017, the number of consumer loans will remain stable while value of housing loans will drop.