LOANS TO HOUSEHOLDS continued to decline during November, according to new figures from the Central Bank.

Lending for mortgages was 2.7 per cent lower on an annual basis in November while lending for consumption and other purposes also fell by 8.6 per cent over the same period.

This contributed to an overall decline in loans to households of 4.1 per cent on a year-to-year basis in November.  Household lending fell by €363 million which includes a fall of €221 million in loans for house purchase.

Loans to non-financial corporates (NFCs) or businesses fell by 1.5 per cent in the year ending November but this is lower than the annual decline of 1.7 per cent in October.

Lending to businesses increased by €39 million during the month of November but this was following a fall of €450 million in October.

This chart from the Central Bank compares lending to households to lending to businesses, showing the sharp fall that has occurred in both areas since the end of 2007:

The Central Bank Money and Banking statistics also showed that the annual rate of decline in Irish resident private-sector deposits was 9 per cent in the year to November, this is compared to a decline of 11 per cent at the end of October.

There was an underlying decline of €1.3 billion in Irish resident deposits during November, reflecting developments in the household sector where deposits fell by €1.2 billion, according to the Central Bank.

There was also a large fall of €5.8 billion in deposits from non-euro area residents during the month of November.