Average interest rates of banks – Change in methodology

In January 2004 a new methodology was introduced for monitoring banks' interest rates vis-a-vis clients. Interest rates are now broken down into rates on the whole stock of business and on new business, where the whole stock of business is defined as outstanding balance-sheet amounts as of the end of the monitored period and new business as all new agreements between a bank and a client during the monitored period. Covered are interest rates applied by banks to koruna loans provided to clients and deposits accepted from clients, where clients mean the sector of non-financial corporations, the household sector and the sector of non-profit institutions serving households (S.11, S.14 and S.15). This methodological change derives from the need to harmonise the interest rate statistics with the requirements of the Regulation of the European Central Bank ECB/2001/18.

The new interest rates will be progressively published in the ARAD time series system in the section Monetary and banking statistics - Harmonised monetary and banking statistics and on the CNB' s website in the section Monetary and banking statistics. First to be published will be rates on the whole stock of business (at the beginning of March). This will be followed during the first half of 2004 by rates on new business. The time series of interest rates on the whole stock of business will, where possible, be linked to the available historical data. The change in methodology will be described in a methodological sheet in the ARAD system. The time series of interest rates on new business will start in January 2004. Monitoring of interest rates on newly drawn loans was terminated at the end of 2003.

Pavlína Bolfová, CNB spokesperson