KfW Credit Market Outlook March 2023

Corporate lending slowed in the final quarter of 2022 following record growth in summer. The easing of tensions in the energy markets and the subsiding of supply bottlenecks means that fewer loans are required to cover unplanned funding requirements. The increase in new loans from German banks to businesses and self-employed persons was, however, still significant at 19% year-on-year, as calculated by KfW Research. And that although the growth rate almost halved. We expect bank lending to continue to cool in the first half of 2023. In addition to higher interest rates, this will be due to lacklustre business investment and above-average difficulty in accessing bank loans.

KfW Credit Market Outlook March 2023(PDF, 275 KB, accessible)