Figures from the Central Bank show that lending to consumers continued to fall sharply in January, but the drop in lending to businesses was not as sharp as in previous months.
The bank said loans to households were 5.1% lower in January than in the same month in 2009. This compared with an annual decline of 5.3% in December.
Lending for mortgages was down 2.2% over the year, while loans for other consumer spending dropped by more than 15%.
Lending to businesses fell by 1.4% in the year to January, after a 1.8% annual fall in December. Short-term (under a year) and long-term loans (more than five years) to business continued to drop in January, but there was a pick-up in medium-term loans.
The figures also show that private sector deposits - which include deposits from households, businesses, financial institutions and pension funds - dropped 8% or almost €12 billion in the year to the end of January, with deposits from non-financial companies falling more than 15%.
The figures also show that Irish banks' borrowings from the European Central Bank increased by €1.5 billion during January, bringing the total borrowed to €96 billion. The figure had dropped back slightly in December.
