Deposits rise but loans to households still falling

The monthly banking figures released by the Central Bank gave mixed signals about the health of the overall economy.

Deposits held by the four Irish banks covered by a government guarantee increased by 1% last month to around €149bn, the sharpest rise in six months. The Central Bank also revealed that over half of this money came from Ireland and wasn’t purely as a result of foreign operations of Irish banks.

However, at the same time, loans to households continued to decline during March, and were 3.9% lower on a year-to-year basis.