Banks increased deposit rates, slightly reducing those of loans in September.

This development, according to the data of the Bank of Greece, resulted in the margin between them falling to 5.72% from 6.35% the previous month.

In more detail, the weighted average interest rate on new deposits increased to 0.43%, while the corresponding interest rate on new loans decreased to 6.15%.

In particular, the average interest rate on overnight deposits from households remained unchanged at 0.03%, while the corresponding interest rate from businesses remained almost unchanged at 0.17%.

The average interest rate on deposits with an agreed duration of up to 1 year from households increased by 17 basis points and stood at 1.73%. The corresponding corporate deposit rate also increased by 15 basis points to 2.85%.

Regarding loan interest rates, the average interest rate on consumer loans without a fixed term (a category that includes credit card loans, open loans and overdrafts from current accounts) remained almost unchanged at 14.79%.

The average interest rate on consumer loans with a fixed term and floating rate decreased by 121 basis points and stood at 12.19%. The average interest rate on variable rate mortgages increased by 39 basis points to 4.42%.

The average interest rate on business loans without a fixed term stood at 6.76% from 6.73% the previous month, while the corresponding interest rate on business loans increased by 5 basis points to 7.77%.

The average interest rate on new fixed-term and variable-rate business loans decreased by 31 basis points in September 2023 to 6.04%. The average interest rate on fixed term floating rate loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) remained almost unchanged at 6.10%.

Regarding the structure of the interest rates in terms of the amount of the loan, it is noted that the average interest rate for loans up to 250,000 euros increased by 8 basis points to 5.76%, for loans from 250,001 to 1 million euros it increased by 9 basis points and stood at 6.06%, while for loans over 1 million euros it decreased by 34 basis points and stood at 6.06%.