Lending rates down 0.1 percentage point on average; no change in average deposit rate 2nd quarter

During the second quarter the average level of bank lending rates moved down 0.1 of a percentage point to 7.1 per cent, accompanied by no change in the average deposit rate. At the end of the second quarter the gap between bank lending and deposit rates was 4.7 percentage points. These figures come from the Riksbank's survey of bank rates at end June 1997.

For house mortgage institutions, the overall level of lending rates was lowered in the second quarter by an average of 0.3 percentage points to 8.6 per cent. Since March 1996, when the rates of these institutions were first surveyed, the level has fallen 2.0 percentage points.

For all loans from banks and housing institutions, the average weighted rate at end June was 8.1 per cent, which means that since the turn of 1996 the average interest cost to the non-bank public had decreased 0.7 percentage points. The loan stock in question constitutes 85 per cent of the credit institutions' total stock of domestic currency loans to the non-bank public.

Copies of the survey are available at the Riksbank entrances at 11 Brunkebergstorg and 7 Malmskillnadsgatan. They can also be ordered from the Information Centre: fax Int.+46 8 787 0546, telephone Int.+46 8 787 0100.

For further information please contact the Financial Statistics Department:
Enar Olofsson, telelephone Int.+46 8 787 0138
Kristina Löfstrand, telephone Int.+46 8 787 0562.