Lending growth hampered by uncertainty about future - Rimsevics

RIGA - Lending growth is hampered by uncertainty about the future, the Bank of Latvia Governor Ilmars Rimsevics told LETA.

"Uncertainty about the future hinders lending growth, impacting entrepreneurs' willingness to borrow and the willingness of credit institutions to lend," Rimsevics said.

At the same time, Rimsevics noted that some Latvian companies had recently issued bonds, for example, Development Finance Institution Altum and airBaltic, which is a positive development. However, this solution is not available to most companies.

He also acknowledged that the period of low interest rates had been continuing for too long. Macroeconomic data will determine for how much longer interest rates will remain low - at the moment it appears that it could continue for several years, but unfortunately, despite the low interest rates, there are many reasons why banks and borrowers are very cautious, said Rimsevics.