LOANS TO HOUSEHOLDS continued to decline December and were 3.8 per cent lower on a year-to-year basis at end-2011, according to the newest figures released by the Central Bank.

The annual fall in November was 4.1 per cent – with mortgage lending down by 2.5 per cent over the year and lending for other purposes down by 8 per cent.

During December, lending to households dropped by €90 million while loans for house purchases increased by €37 million.

Meanwhile, lending to businesses in December was also down 1.6 per cent on the same period of the previous year. Business loans with terms of between one and five years displayed the most significant fall. In contrast, loans with a maturity of up to one year have continued to increase, according to the figures.

Despite the dip in lending, households’ deposits with banks grew by €108 million in December.

This saw the annual rate of decline reduce to 7.3 per cent in December, compared with 9 per cent in November.

Read: Consumer sentiment picks up after December dip – but shoppers still gloomy>

Read: Retail sales still dropping, industry figures show>

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