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At the end of first quarter this year, total assets of financial institutions amounted to approximately NOK 1,112 billion. Compared with the same period last year total assets have increased by NOK 211 billion. Just under half of this amount, NOK 104 billion, occurred in the first quarter of this year.
Total assets have increased by NOK 211 billion in the past year. Half of the increase occurred in the course of the first quarter of 1998, with the banks accounting for 59 per cent of the increase.
The quarterly statistics give figures for the following groups of financial institutions: Norges Bank, banks, state lending institutions, finance companies and life and casualty insurance. Fifty-nine per cent of the increase in total assets came from the banks. Finance companies accounted for 19 per cent of the increase, insurance companies 13 per cent, while Norges Bank contributed 10 per cent. State lending institutions had a reduction of one per cent compared to overall total assets.
Increased lending by banks
Banks increased their total assets by NOK 62 billion in the first quarter, mainly because of higher lending. The increase in lending accounted for 84 per cent of the increase in total assets. The banks' lending portfolio accounted for a total of 80 per cent of total assets at the end of first quarter 1998. Bank deposits have not grown at the same pace as lending, causing steadily lower deposit financing of loans. At the end of the first quarter bank deposits made up 86 per cent of lending, against 98 per cent in the same quarter last year. Banks are increasingly financing lending by issuing certificate and bond loans.
Weekly Bulletin issue no. 24, 1998