At the end of last year, total deposits, which include savings and term kuna and foreign currency deposits of citizens and companies as well as deposit money, reached almost 205.5 billion kuna, representing an annual growth of 11.2 percent.
The strong growth of total deposits was equally influenced by the robust increase in deposits at commercial banks as well as the strong growth of deposit money. Although there was significant growth last year, particularly in term foreign currency savings of the household sector, there was nonetheless a noticeable slowdown in the growth of total deposits, as their overall growth in the previous year was nearly 19 percent. In other words, last year, the overall growth of deposits slowed down by almost 8 index points. Such somewhat unfavorable trends are, according to analysts, a consequence of a significant decline, primarily in deposit money, and a slowdown in the growth of deposits at commercial banks, especially during the last quarter of the previous year.
Analysts state that, in all of this, savings and term foreign currency deposits of citizens and companies grew at somewhat higher average rates, specifically by 13.7 percent, and that by the end of December last year, total foreign currency deposits reached around 117.2 billion kuna. In the structure of foreign currency deposits by domestic sectors, households dominate, accounting for 96.1 billion kuna in savings in foreign currencies. It is also worth noting that only the household sector increased its foreign currency savings by 12.9 billion kuna over the year, or by as much as 15.5 percent in relative terms. Total kuna deposits and deposit money recorded half the growth rates compared to foreign currency savings last year, ending the year with amounts in accounts worth only about 88.3 billion kuna.
