Central Bank: Personal Loans Fall in February

According to statistics released this week by the Central Bank, both personal loans and home loans have fallen year on year in February.

Personal loans for consumption and ‘other purposes’ fell by 6.8% in February compared to last year.

Outstanding loans by Irish households fell by 3.5% annually, following a 3.2% decline in January.

Mortgages, which account for 77% of lending in Ireland, fell by €68m in the final three months of 2014.

The total amount of mortgage debt outstanding in December 2014 was €115.7bn.

This compares to €116.9bn outstanding mortgage debt in July to September.

Experts worry that new mortgage lending restrictions could have a dampening effect on new lending in 2015.

Loans Ireland is a loans comparison website based in Ireland.

Main image: Liffey River – Roberto Taddeo @ Flickr