The outstanding volume of foreign currency (FX) loans extended to households declined by 65.5% or € 23.66 billion (exchange rate adjusted) by the end of the third quarter of 2015, after the ban on new FX lending was introduced in the autumn of 2008. In a quarter-on-quarter comparison the volume dropped by 16.1% or € 4.14 billion in Q3 2015, while it fell by 2.8% or € 740 million when compared with the previous quarter (all figures exchange rate adjusted). This was disclosed in the FMA’s Survey on the Management of Foreign Currency Loans in Q3 2015.
In absolute terms, households still owed foreign currency loans amounting to a total of € 24.2 billion as at 30 September 2015. The underlying reason is that the Swiss franc has appreciated against the euro by 51.6% since early 2008.
The share of foreign currency loans in relation to all outstanding household loans in Austria dropped by 1.8 percentage points to 17.3% within one year (from Q3 2014 to Q3 2015). At the height of the foreign currency boom in mid-2006 the share was still 31.8%. The measures introduced by the FMA have thus meanwhile resulted in a reduction from about one third to a level well below one fifth of the total volume of all household loans.
After the Swiss National Bank had lifted its exchange rate pegging of 1.20 to the euro on 15 January 2015, the Swiss franc subsequently appreciated noticeably, with the rate settling between 1.038 and 1.103 in the third quarter of 2015.
Journalists may address further enquiries to:
Klaus Grubelnik (FMA Media Spokesperson)
+43/(0)1/24959-6006
+43/(0)676/882 49 516