Banking Sector Sees Decline in Customer Base

The Georgian banking sector witnessed a reduction in its customer base, with the number of bank customers dropping to 1.578 million, down from 1.622 million active users at the end of February last year, according to the latest report from Creditinfo.

As of February 1, the banks' active loan agreements amounted to 39.8 billion GEL, while the leasing companies' portfolio stood at around 0.5 billion GEL. It's important to note that Creditinfo's database only records loans up to 10 million GEL, a threshold that was raised at the end of 2022 from the previous limit of 3 million GEL.

The report also highlighted the current state of overdue loans: 840 million GEL worth of bank-issued loans are overdue by one year, with a 555 million GEL portfolio being 2 to 3 years overdue.

Despite a reduction in the volume of problem loans, the pace of lending has decelerated, showing an annual growth rate of about 16% as of February. Additionally, Creditinfo's database now includes loans issued based on income from remittances.