Sweden Household Lending Growth At Historic Low

(RTTNews) - Swedish households' lending grew at the weakest pace on record in November, official data showed on Wednesday.

Lending to households increased 4.1 percent in November from the last year, which was the lowest since the series began in January 2006, Statistics Sweden reported.

Mortgages accounted for 82 percent of total lending to households, while the annual rate for consumption was only 6 percent. The annual growth rate for consumption loans was 3.7 percent.

The lending to non-financial corporations increased 16.0 percent annually. Although the annual rate came in double-digit, the pace of increase slowed for the second straight month.

Further, data showed that interest rates for new agreements on mortgages increased for the ninth consecutive month. The average rate on new mortgages to households was 3.42 percent.