Private sector credit expands - Reached 34% of GDP by the end of 2025
Lending to the private sector continued to grow at high rates in the fourth quarter of 2025 and in January 2026. Annual credit expansion showed a slight improvement in the last quarter of the year, with an average increase of 14.4%, and returned to the average levels of the second half of 2025 in January 2026, marking an annual increase of 13.9%.
This dynamic is mostly attributed to fluctuations in the portfolio of liquidity loans granted to businesses, while lending to individuals showed stable growth rates. In relation to GDP, credit to the private sector marked another expansion, to 34% at the end of 2025, illustrating the increasing share of bank credit in financing economic activity.
Credit expansion has been supported by strong demand for financing, driven by the growth in economic activity in the country, favorable financial conditions and positive economic confidence. In parallel, banks have eased lending standards for businesses and have shown greater tolerance in taking on risk, supported by the decline in the ratio of non-performing loans to total. The value of this ratio of 3.8% in January remained close to the minimum level recorded at the end of December 2025.
The expansion of banks' lending activity mostly reflects the rapid growth of Lek loans. Its annual growth rate marked 16.7% in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 15.1% in January 2026. Low interest rates in the Lek loan segment, the orientation of banks' policies to match the lending currency with that of the borrower's income, as well as a public awareness of exchange rate risk, are supporting the shift of the loan portfolio structure towards Lek in recent years.
Thus, for more than three years, Lek credit has been increasing its share in private sector financing, accounting for 58.2% of the total portfolio. Meanwhile, foreign currency lending continued to show stable growth rates, around 12.4%, but still slower than Lek credit.
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