Financial institutions (discontinued), Q3 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 6.2 per cent to NOK 2 150 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 0.02 percentage points to 2.21 per cent during the last 12 months. From the last quarter the interest rate margin fell by 0.16 percentage points.

Increased stock of securities

Investments in securities increased by 3.1 per cent to NOK 1 368 billion during the second quarter of 2008 compared to last year. The value of investments in equities, units and primary capital certificates has decreased by 8.2 per cent, while investment in bonds has increased by 14.8 per cent since the end of the second quarter of 2008. Bonds still have the largest share of the stock of securities by 66 per cent, while equities, units and primary capital certificates account for 31.2 per cent.

Increased total assets

Total assets for all financial institutions increased by 15.5 per cent to NOK 5 938 billion compared with the corresponding quarter last year. Furthermore, the total assets in banks increased by 15.0 per cent, while the total assets in insurance companies and finance companies increased by respectively 1.8 per cent and 44.5 per cent during the same period. Total assets indicate the size of the financial institutions. Thus, banks consolidate their position as the leading financial institution in Norway, followed by insurance companies and finance companies.

Tables

Publised tables