VILNIUS, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The portfolio of loans for housing in Lithuania reached historical heights and will continue growing amid housing market activity, according to the Lithuanian central bank on Tuesday.
In 2016, the net value of the portfolio of housing loans increased by 6.4 percent and reached 6.4 billion euros (6.8 billion U.S. dollars), shows data announced by the Bank of Lithuania.
The portfolio of housing loans has exceeded the pre-crisis levels, and reached record highs. Increase in housing loans was influenced by rising activity in the Baltic state's real estate market, market expectations and income growth, points out the Bank of Lithuania in a statement.
"Our forecast is that this year customer demand for loans will not decline, hence, lending will continue to grow," Vitas Vasiliauskas, the governor of the Bank of Lithuania, was quoted as saying.
Housing loans account to the largest share of lending to households. In 2016, the net value of portfolio of loans to residents increased by 6.9 percent, reaching 8.1 billion euros.
Meanwhile, lending to business increased by double digits. Last year, the net portfolio of loans to companies increased by 11.3 percent and reached 8.6 billion euros.
Growth in total lending exceeded the country's economic growth by more than four times. Lithuania's GDP increased by 2.3 percent in 2016, up from 1.7 percent in 2015.
