Debts of Slovaks still lower than in Western Europe

Even though the indebtedness of Slovaks in recent years is rising, it's still lower than that seen in developed EU economies, VUB macroeconomist Andrej Arady said at a press conference on Tuesday. It was the positive development of the Slovak economy in recent months, a reduction in unemployment and growth in real wages that has fuelled the interest of Slovaks in loans. According to Arady, economic growth bolsters the appetite for loans, as concerns of losing employment fade away. It is the growth in domestic consumption that contributes the most to current developments and this trend is expected to continue. According to VUB data, the most sought after loans are those up to €6,000, requested by three out of four clients. These lower loans make up only a third of the overall volume on the market, however. Greater interest is recorded in general purpose loans, used mostly for purchasing things for the house and cars, which form almost 50 percent of all provided loans. The highest number of loans is taken by people in the Bratislava region (15 percent) and Prešov (14 percent). Males request almost 20 percent more money than females, with the average sum loaned directly to men being €4,600 and €3,800 to women.