Serbia’s banking sector entered 2026 with domestic lending moving from recovery into expansion, according to the National Bank of Serbia’s first-quarter credit trends report. Total loans to the non-monetary sector rose 16.9% year on year in March, after excluding exchange-rate effects. The report also shows that overall credit growth extended beyond a single borrower group.
- Credit growth, placements and asset-quality indicators
- Corporate lending: stocks, flows and loan composition
- Sectors driving borrowing and SME participation
- New corporate approvals and company loan pricing
- Dinar vs euro-indexed rates for households and companies
- Household lending: stocks, categories and dinarisation
- Dinarisation shift and household rate stability
- Dinar-denominated placements for companies and households
- Easing effects reported by banks and implications for demand composition
Household lending remained the largest contributor, increasing 20.9% year on year, while corporate loans rose 12.0%. Total domestic bank placements to the non-monetary sector, including loans and securities as well as interest, fees and other claims, increased 17.5% year on year in March. The broader measure was reported alongside the acceleration in household and corporate borrowing.
Credit growth, placements and asset-quality indicators
The report highlights that faster lending has not coincided with weaker asset quality. Non-performing loans stayed close to their historical low at 2.09% in March. Coverage indicators remained strong, with total loan impairment allowances equal to 109.2% of gross NPLs.
Impairment allowances for NPLs covered 60.3% of gross problematic loans, while the capital adequacy ratio stood at 19.5% at end-Q1. The ratio remains above the regulatory minimum of 8.0%. Banks therefore expanded credit with capital buffers reported as solid and NPL levels contained.
Banks continued to finance lending mainly through deposits rather than wholesale external leverage. The loan-to-deposit ratio stayed below 100%, at around 82% in March. Since 2025, the ratio has been gradually increasing alongside stronger credit growth.
Corporate lending: stocks, flows and loan composition
Corporate lending rose by RSD 27.0 billion in the first quarter, excluding exchange-rate effects, or 1.4% compared with end-2025. The stock of corporate loans reached RSD 1,910.2 billion in March, equivalent to 47.4% of total bank credit claims on the non-monetary sector. Corporate loans also edged higher relative to GDP.
The corporate loan share of GDP reached 18.2%, up from 18.1% at end-2025. Borrowing was concentrated in liquidity and working capital needs, with this category increasing by RSD 24.6 billion during the quarter. In March, liquidity and working-capital loans accounted for 47.9% of total corporate loans.
The share of liquidity and working-capital loans rose by 0.6 percentage points from end-2025, while annual growth accelerated to 13.5%. Investment loans remained a large component but their share slipped by 0.7 percentage points to 42.7%. Annual growth for investment loans slowed to 12.5%.
Sectors driving borrowing and SME participation
The report links demand for financing primarily to operating needs rather than a purely investment-led cycle. It cites demand for operating liquidity, inventories, receivables, current obligations and working-capital buffers as stronger elements of corporate borrowing demand. Transport, construction and trade companies increased borrowing the most during the quarter.
Only manufacturing and agriculture recorded declines in borrowing during the quarter, according to the report’s sector breakdown.
New corporate approvals and company loan pricing
The flow data for new lending showed a slight softening in approvals compared with the same period a year earlier. Newly approved corporate loans amounted to RSD 289.1 billion in Q1, down 1.1%% versus the first quarter of 2025. Liquidity and working-capital loans remained dominant among new approvals.
The report states that liquidity and working-capital loans represented about two thirds of new corporate lending, while investment loans accounted for around one fifth. It also notes that credit stock growth remained stronger than fresh demand for investment-focused borrowing based on these shares.
Average interest rates for companies edged higher while remaining relatively favourable across dinar and euro-indexed products.
Dinar vs euro-indexed rates for households and companies
The average rate on dinar corporate loans increased to 6.8%, from 6.5% in the previous quarter. The average rate on euro-indexed corporate loans rose to 4.9%, from 4.8%. The report presents these changes as modest but relevant for pricing conditions.
Household lending provided the stronger part of the credit cycle in Q1, with loans to households increasing by RSD 72.3 billion, excluding exchange-rate effects, or 3.7%% from end-2025.
Household lending: stocks, categories and dinarisation
The stock of household loans reached RSD 2,006.9 billion in March and accounted for 49.8%% of total bank credit claims on the non-monetary sector. Household loans also rose relative to GDP to reach 19.1%. Within household categories, cash loans and housing loans drove most of the increase.
Cash loans increased by RSD 40.0 billion, while housing loans rose by RSD 25.9 billion. Cash loans remained the largest category at 47.7%% of total household loans in March, up by 0. Housing loans accounted for 0.
Housing-loan growth was supported by programmes aimed at younger borrowers and first-home buyers alongside lower borrowing costs compared with peak-rate conditions.
Dinarisation shift and household rate stability
The report says annual growth was strong across both household categories: cash loans grew by 0. Housing-loan annual growth reached 0.
Interest rates for households remained broadly stable, with dinar household loan rates at 0. Euro-indexed household loan rates increased slightly to 0.
Dinar-denominated placements for companies and households
Dinarisation reached a new high as dinar-denominated placements to companies and households increased to 0. Household loan dinarisation rose to 0, while corporate loan dinarisation slipped slightly to 0. The report links this divergence to product structure for households and companies’ exposure patterns.
Easing effects reported by banks and implications for demand composition
The report attributes supportive borrowing conditions in Q1 partly to delayed effects from previous easing by the National Bank of Serbia and the European Central Bank . It also notes that banks reported softer credit standards for households during the period.
Demand benefited particularly in liquidity and working-capital finance among corporates alongside faster household lending under supportive conditions reported by banks.
