Financial institutions (discontinued), Q1 2008

The strong growth in the overall lending from the financial institutions is mainly due to the high growth in the banks’ lending to the public (municipalities, non-financial corporations and households), which increased by 12.6 per cent to NOK 2 126 billion during the last 12 months.

Higher interest margin

The difference between the banks' average interest rates on loans and the average deposit rates, the interest rate margin, increased by 0.12 percentage points to 2.25 per cent during the last 12 months.

Increased stock of securities

Investments in securities fell by 3.1 percent to NOK 1 268 billion during the first quarter of 2008. The value of investments in equities, units and primary capital certificates has decreased by 3.1 per cent, while investment in bonds has decreased by 2 per cent since the end of the first quarter of 2007. Moreover, investment in certificates has increased by 70 per cent during the same period. Bonds still have the largest share of the stock of securities by 62.4 per cent, while equities, units and primary capital certificates account for 31.8 per cent.

Increased total assets

Total assets for all financial institutions increased by 12.2 per cent to NOK 5 479 billion compared with the corresponding quarter last year. The total assets in banks’ increased by 13.4 per cent, while the total assets in insurance companies and finance companies increased by respectively 8.2 per cent and 27.9 per cent during the same period. Total assets indicate the size of the financial institutions. Thus, banks consolidate their position as the leading financial institutions in Norway, followed by insurance companies and finance companies.

Tables

Publised tables