The bank lending survey

This article describes the bank lending survey that the Czech National Bank has been using since 2012 to gather valuable qualitative information about the bank credit market as a complement to statistical reporting. The article sets out to conduct a quantitative assessment of the survey results and to determine the roles played in new credit developments in 2012–2016 by changes in credit supply and changes in demand for loans as reported by banks in the survey. The results of the analysis indicate that although some of banks’ survey responses are statistically significant in explaining the amounts of new loans reported by banks, the survey’s ability to explain credit growth is currently limited. Growth in new loans for house purchase can be attributed primarily to growth in demand driven by falling interest rates. According to the results, supply and demand factors both played a role in the case of loans to non-financial corporations. For consumer credit and other lending to households, the results of the analysis are ambiguous.