2017-08-17
Decrease in number of consumer credit borrowers – nearly the size of the population of Šiauliai
At the end of June of this year, about 440 thousand residents were using consumer credit lender services – almost 100 thousand (approximately the number of residents in Šiauliai), or fewer by a fifth year on year. Credit borrowers aged 25 and under also dropped in number by a fifth – from 70 to 58 thousand.
‘The results for the first half-year already allow us to objectively assess the effects on the market of the tightened consumer lending terms and conditions in early 2016 and the greater responsibility of credit lenders in the assessment of client creditworthiness. We have been seeing a decrease in the number of loans overdue, especially as regards overdue during the short-term horizon,’ said Aistė Tavorė, Specialist of the Financial Services and Market Supervision Department at the Bank of Lithuania.
The number of payments overdue for no more than two months fell by 14 per cent between the end of June 2016 and the end of June 2017. The number of those who were late to repay loans for more than two months has more than halved over the year. However, selling of terminated agreements to debt recovery companies has contributed to this.
In the first half of this year, consumer credit lenders (other than credit institutions) and peer-to-peer lending platforms granted almost 225 thousand new consumer credits in the total amount of EUR 170 million. Year on year credits decreased in number by a fourth but increased somewhat in amount (by 9.5%). Compared to the first half of 2015, the number of credits granted dropped by nearly two and a half times, while their amount – by almost a fifth.
Nearly 50 thousand small consumer credits (up to EUR 290) were granted over the first six months of this year, amounting to EUR 7 million. Year on year both the number and amount of credits dropped by more than a fourth. The average amount of small consumer credit stands at about EUR 135.