Lending to small and medium-sized businesses is on the rise in Ukraine.

The proportion of hryvnia loans for small and medium-sized enterprises is increasing rapidly, with a 22.1% surge in volume over the past year, said Andriy Pyshny, NBU Chairman.

“Throughout the year, the growth in the volume of loans to businesses reached 20.6%. Net hryvnia loans to SMEs grew even faster, by 22.1% annually. Their proportion in the net hryvnia portfolio of business loans rose to 60.2%,” he specified.

The NBU chief noted that net hryvnia loans to businesses have been continuously increasing for a year and a half. Additionally, the share of loans under the Affordable Loans 5-7-9% program has decreased to 33.7% in the net hryvnia commercial loan portfolio over the year.

At the same time, net hryvnia loans to individuals are also growing rapidly, climbing by 39.9% per year. Mortgage loan growth has slowed to 60.7% year over year. Mortgage lending continues to be almost entirely centered around the eOselya state program, with its gross portfolio growing to ₴24.1B by the end of last year.

The share of NPL loans has declined to 30.3%.