New figures show that the amount of money lent in the economy fell again in November, with mortgage lending falling for the eighth month in a row.
The Central Bank said the level of outstanding mortgage lending dropped by €134m from October. This means that once again the amount being re-paid on existing mortgages was more than the amount given out in new mortgages.
Euro zone bank lending falls again
This also meant that mortgage lending dropped by 0.1% compared with November last year, the first time on record that the annual figure has fallen.
Total lending in the economy dropped by €2.1 billion in November, bringing the annual drop to 5.2%. But the Central Bank says that around 70% of the fall is due to factors such as writedowns in the value of loans and exchange rate movements.
The Central Bank figures also show that non-housing lending to households dropped by 21% in the year to November. They also show that the amount of debt outstanding on credit cards was down 0.6% over the year, as consumers' repayments exceeded new spending.
