Deposits belonging to residents of Malta and held with resident monetary financial institutions (MFI) expanded by €220.6 million, or 2.3 per cent, the Central Bank said.
Consequently, the annual growth rate rose to 10.1 per cent, from 8.8 per cent in the previous month.
Growth in deposits stemmed mainly from a rise in overnight deposits, which put on €147.7 million, or 2.6 per cent.
This was driven, to a large extent, by higher balances belonging to households, non-financial corporations (NFC) and non-bank financial intermediaries.
As a result, the annual growth rate of overnight deposits accelerated to 16.2 per cent from 14.3 per cent in December.
Deposits with an agreed maturity of up to two years also expanded, rising by €72.5 million, or 1.9 per cent, mostly due to higher balances belonging to households and, to a lesser extent, non-bank financial intermediaries.
Consequently, the annual growth rate of these deposits rose to 3.5 per cent, from 2.7 per cent a month earlier. At the same time, deposits redeemable at notice of up to three months edged up by €0.4 million, or 0.3 per cent.
In January, credit granted by resident MFIs to Maltese residents rose by €46.8 million, or 0.4 per cent, on the back of an increase in credit to general government.
Nonetheless, the annual growth rate slowed down further to 0.7 per cent, from 1.4 per cent in December.
Credit to general government expanded by €74.5 million, or three per cent, reflecting a rise in banks’ holdings of Treasury bills and Malta Government Stocks.
However, the annual growth rate of credit to general government slowed down to 5.4 per cent from 8.3 per cent in December.
On the other hand, credit to other residents contracted by €27.7 million, or 0.3 per cent. The decline stemmed mainly from a drop in loans granted to private NFCs, particularly those operating in the wholesale & retail trade and in the information & communication sector. Loans to the
construction sector also fell moderately during the month.
In contrast, credit to households continued on an upward trend following an increase in loans for house purchase. Year-on-year, credit to other residents contracted by 0.6 per cent in January, following a 0.4 per cent drop in December.
Net foreign assets belonging to resident MFIs contracted by €24.4 million, or 0.3 per cent, as a substantial increase in foreign liabilities exceeded a rise in foreign assets.
In January, the weighted average interest rate paid by MFIs on all deposits belonging to resident households and NFCs fell by four basis points to 1.37 per cent. Meanwhile, the weighted average interest charged by resident MFIs on outstanding loans to resident households and NFCs fell by three basis points to 4.21 per cent.
The weighted average deposit rate was 6 basis points lower when compared to a year earlier, while that charged on loans was 13 basis points lower.
The contribution of resident MFIs to the euro area broad money stock (M3) expanded by €247.8 million, or 2.1 per cent, in January reaching €11.9 billion. Consequently, its annual growth rate accelerated to 13.7%, from 11.2% one month earlier.
Movements in M3 were mainly driven by developments in the intermediate money component (M2). The latter rose by €241.0 million, or 2.1 per cent, on the previous month.