Household loan repayments exceeded drawdowns by €490 million during May, according to new figures released by the Central Bank.

This follows a net monthly decrease of €462 million the previous month.

The most substantial decrease in May was linked to loans for house purchase, which fell by €298 million.

On an annual basis, lending to Irish households continued to decline, falling by 3.7 per cent last month. Loans for house purchase, which account for 79 per cent of all household loans, felll at an annual rate of 3 per cent. Lending for consumption and and other purposes was down 5.8 per cent over the 12 months under review.

Loans to businesses reported their first positive net flow in eighteen months with an increase of €28 million last month.

Irish resident private sector deposits fell by €5.5 billion during May. On an annual basis, deposits declined at a rate of 3.4 per cent in May, following a fall of 0.4 per cent in April.

Credit institutions’ borrowings from the Central Bank as part of the Eurosystem monetary policy operations fell by €2.3 billion in May, following a €1.2 billion decline in April.

The outstanding stock of these borrowings amounted to €30 billion. Irish credit institutions accounted for €22.4 billion of the total outstanding stock and current levels represent the lowest level of reliance on central bank funding since August 2008.